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TED      TO       TWELVE       STAR       COPIES 


UNIFORM  EDITION 


OLIVER  CROMWELL 

The  Storv  of  His  Life  and  Work 


By 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 


PHILADELPHIA 

GEBBIE  AND  COMPANY 
1903 


Copyright,  1900 

Copyright,  1903 

by 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S    SONS 


This  edition  of  "Oliver  Cromwell"  is    issued  under  special 
arrangement  with  Charles  Scribner's  Sons 


6IFT 


DA  ^2  6 

1105 


Cromwell,  our  chief  of  men,  who  through  a  cloud 
Not  of  war  only,  but  detractions  rude, 
Guided  by  faith,  and  matchless  fortitude. 
To  peace  and  truth,  thy  glorious  way  hast  ploughed. 

And  on  the  neck  of  crowned  fortune  proud 

Hast  reared  God's  trophies,  and  his  work  pursued, 
While  Darwen  stream,  with  blood  of  Scots  imbrued, 
And  Dunbar  field,  resounds  thy  praises  loud. 

And  Worcester's  laureate  wreath.     Yet  much  remains 
To  conquer  still ;  Peace  hath  her  victories 
No  less  renowned  than  War:  new  foes  arise, 

Threatening  to  bind  our  souls  with  secular  chains. 

Help  us  to  save  free  conscience  from  the  paw 

Of  hireling  wolves,  whose  gospel  is  their  maw. 

Milton. 

ExBcuTiVE  Chamber,  Albany, 
June,  I  goo. 


Ul 


951 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I  PAOB 

The  Times  and  the  Man i 

CHAPTER  II 
The  Long  Parliament  and  the  Civil  War 49 

CHAPTER  III 
The  Second  Civil  War  and  the  Death  op  the  King.  .     95 

CHAPTER  IV 
The  Irish  and  Scotch  Wars 136 

CHAPTER  V 
The  Commonwealth  and  Protectorate 171 

CHAPTER  VI 
Personal  Rule 203 

Index 233 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Cromwell  Leading  the  Assault  on 

Drogheda  .         .  .         .        Frontispiece 

F.  C.  Yohn 

Dissolving  the  Long  Parliament  .         .     i8o 

Seymour  Lucas 

Installation  of  Cromwell  as  Protector  192 

F.  C.  Yohn 

Last  Charge  of  the  Ironsides      .  221 

F.  C.  Yohn 


vu 


OLIVER  CROMWELL 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   TIMES   AND   THE   MAN. 

FOR  over  a  century  and  a  half  after  his  death 
the  memory  of  the  greatest  Englishman  of 
the  seventeenth  century  was  looked  upon 
with  horror  by  the  leaders  of  English  thought, 
poHtical  and  literary ;  the  very  men  who  were  car- 
rying to  fruition  Cromwell's  tremendous  policies 
being  often  utterly  ignorant  that  they  were  follow- 
ing in  his  footsteps.  At  last  the  scales  began  to 
drop  from  the  most  far-seeing  eyes.  Macaulay, 
with  his  eminently  sane  and  wholesome  spirit,  held 
Cromwell  and  the  social  forces  for  which  he  stood 
— Puritanic  and  otherwise — at  their  real  worth, 
and  his  judgment  about  them  was,  in  all  essen- 
tials, accurate.  But  the  true  appreciation  of  the 
place  held  by  the  greatest  soldier-statesman  of  the 
seventeenth  century  began  with  the  publication 
of  his  life  and  letters  by  Carlyle.  The  gnarled 
genius  of  the  man  who  worshiped  the  heroes  of 


2  Oliver  Cromwell 

the  past  as  intensely  as  he  feared  and  distrusted 
the  heroes  of  the  present,  enabled  him  to  write 
with  a  loftiness  and  intensity  that  befitted  his  sub- 
ject. But  Carlyle's  singular  incapacity  to  **see 
veracity,"  as  he  would  himself  have  phrased  it, 
made  him  at  times  not  merely  tell  half-truths,  but 
deliberately  invert  the  truth.  He  was  of  that  not 
imcommon  cloistered  type  which  shrinks  shud- 
dering from  actual  contact  with  whatever  it,  in 
theory,  most  admires,  and  which,  therefore,  is 
reduced  in  self -justification  to  misjudge  and  mis- 
represent those  facts  of  past  history  which  form 
precedents  for  what  is  going  on  before  the  author's 
own  eyes. 

Cromwell  lived  in  an  age  when  it  was  not  pos- 
sible to  realize  a  government  based  upon  those 
large  principles  of  social,  political,  and  religious 
liberty  in  which — at  any  rate,  during  his  earlier 
years — ^he  sincerely  believed;  but  the  movement 
of  which  he  was  the  head  was  the  first  of  the  great 
movements  which,  marching  along  essentially  the 
same  lines,  have  produced  the  English-speaking 
world  as  we  at  present  know  it.  This  primary 
fact  Carlyle  refused  to  see,  or  at  least  to  admit. 
As  the  central  idea  of  his  work  he  states  that  the 
Puritanism  of  the  Cromwellian  epoch  was  the 
"last  glimpse  of  the  Godlike  vanishing  from  this 
England;  conviction  and  veracity  giving  place 
to  hollow  cant  and  formulism.  .  .  .  The  last  of 


The  Times  and  the  Man  3 

all  our  Heroisms.  .  .  .  We  have  wandered  far 
away  from  the  ideas  which  guided  us  in  that  cen- 
tury, and  indeed  which  had  guided  us  in  all  pre- 
ceding centuries,  but  of  which  that  century  was 
the  ultimate  manifestation;  we  have  wandered 
very  far ;  and  must  endeavor  to  return  and  con- 
nect ourselves  therewith  again.  ...  I  will  advise 
my  reader  to  forget  the  modem  methods  of  reform ; 
not  to  remember  that  he  has  ever  heard  of  a  mod- 
em individual  called  by  the  name  of  *  Reformer,* 
if  he  would  imderstand  what  the  old  meaning  of 
the  word  was.  The  Cromwells,  Pyms,  and  Hamp- 
dens,  who  were  understood  on  the  Royalist  side  to 
be  firebrands  of  the  devil,  have  had  still  worse 
measure  from  the  Dry-as-Dust  philosophies  and 
skeptical  histories  of  later  times.  They  really  did 
resemble  firebrands  of  the  devil  if  you  looked  at 
them  through  spectacles  of  a  certain  color,  for  fire 
is  always  fire ;  but  by  no  spectacles,  only  by  mere 
blindness  and  wooden-eyed  spectacles,  can  the 
flame-girt  heaven's  messenger  pass  for  a  poor, 
moldy  Pedant  and  Constitution-monger  such  as 
these  would  make  him  out  to  be." 

This  is  good  writing  of  its  kind;  but  the 
thought  is  mere  "hollow  cant  and  imveracity;" 
not  only  far  from  the  truth,  but  the  direct  reverse 
of  the  truth.  It  is  itself  the  wail  of  the  pedant 
who  does  not  know  that  the  flame-girt  heaven's 
messenger  of  truth  is  always  a  mere  mortal  to 


4  Oliver  Cromwell 

those  who  see  him  with  the  actual  eyes  of  the 
flesh,  although  mayhap  a  great  mortal;  while  to 
the  closet  philosopher  his  quality  of  flame-girted- 
ness  is  rarely  visible  until  a  century  or  thereabouts 
has  elapsed. 

So  far  from  this  great  movement,   of  which 
Puritanism  was  merely  one  manifestation,  being 
the  last  of  a  succession  of  similar  heroisms,  it  had 
practically  very  much  less  connection  with  what 
went  before  than  with  all  that  has  guided  us  in 
our  history  since.     Of  course,  it  is  impossible  to 
draw  a  line  with  mathematical  exactness  between 
the  different  stages  of  history,  but  it  is  both  pos- 
sible and  necessary  to  draw  it  with  rough  effi- 
;  ciency;   and,  speaking  roughly,  the  epoch  of  the 
/    Puritans  was  the  beginning  of  the  great  modem 
epoch  of  the  English-speaking  world — infinitely 
its  greatest  epoch.     We  have  not  ''wandered  far 
from  the  ideas  that  guided"  the  wisest  and  most 
earnest  leaders  in  the  century  that  saw  Cromwell ; 
on  the  contrary,  these  ideas  were  themselves  very 
far  indeed  from  those  which  had  guided  the  Eng- 
I  lish  people  in  previous  ages,  and  the  ideas  that 
I  now  guide  us  represent  on  the  whole  what  was 
\  best  and  truest  in  the  thought  of  the  Puritans. 
As  for  Pym  and  Hampden,  their  type  had  prac- 
tically no  representative  in  England  prior  to  their 
time,  while  all  the  great  legislative  reformers  since 
then  have  been  their  followers.     The  Hampden 


The  Times  and  the  Man  5 

type — the  purest  and  noblest  of  types — reached 
its  highest  expression  in  Washington.  Pym,  the 
man  of  great  powers  and  great  services,  with  a 
tendency  to  believe  that  Parliamentary  govern- 
ment was  the  cure  for  all  evils,  followed  to  a  line 
**  the  modem  methods  of  reform,"  and  was  exactly 
the  man  who,  if  he  had  lived  in  Carlyle's  day, 
Carlyle  would  have  sneered  at  as  a  "constitution- 
monger."  It  was  men  of  the  kind  of  Hampden 
and  Pym  who,  before  Carlyle's  own  eyes,  were 
striving  in  the  British  Parliament  for  the  reforms 
which  were  to  carry  one  stage  farther  the  work 
of  Hampden  and  Pym;  who  were  endeavoring 
to  secure  for  all  creeds  full  tolerance ;  to  give  the 
people  an  ever-increasing  share  in  ruling  their 
own  destinies;  to  better  the  conditions  of  social 
and  political  life.  In  the  great  American  Civil 
War  the  master  spirits  in  the  contest  for  union 
and  freedom  were  actuated  by  a  fervor  as  intense 
as,  and  even  finer  than,  that  which  actuated  the 
men  of  the  Long  Parliament;  while  in  rigid 
morality  and  grim  devotion  to  what  he  conceived 
to  be  God's  bidding,  the  Southern  soldier,  Stone- 
wall Jackson,  was  as  true  a  type  of  the  "Gen- 
eral of  the  Lord,  with  his  Bible  and  his  Sword," 
as  Cromwell  or  Ireton. 

The  whole  history  of  the  movement  which  re- 
sulted in  the  establishment  of  the  Commonwealth 
of  England  will  be  misread  and  misimderstood  if 


6  Oliver  Cromwell 

iwe  fail  to  appreciate  that  it  was  the  first  modem, 
land  not  the  last  medieval,  movement;  if  we  fail 
I  to  understand  that  the  men  who  figured  in  it  and 
I  the   principles   for   which   they   contended,    are 
strictly  akin  to  the  men  and  the  principles  that 
\  have  appeared  in  all  similar  great  movements 
'  since:  in  the  English  Revolution  of  1688;  in  the 
American  Revolution  of  1776;  and  the  American 
I  Civil  War  of  1861.     We  must  keep  ever  in  mind 
)  the  essentially  modem  character  of  the  movement 
/  if  we  are  to  appreciate  its  true  inwardness,  its 
\  true  significance.     Fimdamentally,  it  was  the  first 
I  struggle  for  religious,  political,  and  social  freedom, 
(^  as  we  now  imderstand  the  terms.     As  was  inev- 
itable in  such  a  first  struggle,  there  remained 
even  among  the  forces  of  reform  much  of  what 
properly  belonged  to  previous  generations.     In 
addition  to  the  modem  side  there  was  a  medieval 
side,  too.     Just  so  far  as  this  medieval  element 
obtained,  the  movement  failed.     All  that  there 
was  of  good  and  of  permanence  in  it  was  due  to 
the  new  elements. 

To  understand  the  play  of  the  forces  which 
produced  Cromwell  and  gave  him  his  chance,  we 
must  briefly  look  at  the  England  into  which  he 
was  bom. 

He  saw  the  light  at  the  close  of  the  reign 
of  Queen  Elizabeth,  in  the  last  years  of  the 
Tudor  dynasty,  and  he  grew  to  manhood  during 


The  Times  and  the  Man  7 

the  inglorious  reign  of  the  first  English  king  of 
the  inglorious  House  of  Stuart.  The  struggle 
between  the  reformed  churches  and  the  ancient 
church,  against  which  they  were  in  revolt,  was  still 
the  leading  factor  in  shaping  European  politics, 
though  other  factors  were  fast  assuming  an  equal 
weight.  The  course  of  the  Reformation  in  Eng- 
land had  been  widely  different  from  that  which 
it  had  followed  in  other  European  countries. 
The  followers  of  Luther  and  Calvin,  whatever 
their  shortcomings — and  they  were  many  and 
grievous — had  been  influenced  by  a  fiery  zeal  for 
righteousness,  a  fierce  detestation  of  spiritual  cor- 
ruption; but  in  England  the  Reformation  had 
been  tmdertaken  for  widely  different  reasons  by 
Henry  VIH.  and  his  creatures,  though  the  bulk 
of  their  followers  were  as  sincere  as  their  brethren 
on  the  Continent.  Henry's  purpose  had  been 
simple,  namely,  to  transfer  to  himself  the  power 
and  revenues  of  the  Papacy,  so  far  as  he  could 
seize  them,  and  thus  to  add  to  the  spiritual 
supremacy  against  which  the  leaders  of  the 
Reformation  had  revolted:  the  absolute  sov- 
ereignty which  the  Tudors  were  seeking  to 
establish  in  England.  EHzabeth  stood  infinitely 
above  her  father  in  most  respects ;  but  in  religious 
views  they  were  not  far  apart,  and  in  theory  they 
were  both  believers  in  absolutism.  They  had  no 
standmg  army,  and  they  were  always  in  want  of 


8  Oliver  Cromwell 

money,  so  that  in  practice  they  never  ventured 
seriously  to  offend  the  influential  and  moneyed 
classes.  But  imder  Henry  the  misery  and  suffer- 
ing of  the  lower  classes  became  very  great,  and 
the  yeomen  were  largely  driven  from  their  lands, 
while  much  of  Elizabeth's  own  administration 
consisted  of  efforts  to  grapple  with  the  vagrancy 
and  wretchedness  which  had  been  caused  by  the 
degradation  of  those  who  stood  lowest  in  the 
social  scale. 

When  the  Stuarts  took  possession  of  the  throne 
of  England  they  fotmd  a  people  which,  imlike 
the  peoples  of  most  of  the  neighboring  states,  had 
not  fought  out  its  religious  convictions.  The 
Reformation  had  deeply  stirred  men's  souls. 
Religion  had  become  a  matter  of  vital  and  terri- 
ble importance  to  Protestant  and  to  Catholic. 
Among  the  extremists,  the  men  who  had  given 
the  tone  to  the  Reformation  in  Germany,  Switz- 
erland, Holland,  and  Scotland,  religion,  as  they 
imderstood  it,  entered  into  every  act  of  their  lives. 
In  England  there  were  men  of  this  stamp ;  but  in 
the  EngHsh  Reformation  they  had  played  a  wholly 
subordinate  part ;  and  indeed  had  been  in  almost 
as  great  danger  as  the  Catholics.  Their  force, 
therefore,  had  not  spent  itself.  It  had  been  con- 
served, in  spite  of  their  desires. 

Thus  it  happened  that  the  high  tide  of  extreme 
Protestantism  was  reached  in   England,  not  as 


The  Times  and  the  Man  9 

in  other  Protestant  countries,  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  but  in  the  seventeenth.  The  Stuarts 
were  the  only  Protestant  kings  who  were  not  in 
religious  sympathy  with  their  Protestant  subjects. 
In  theory  the  Anglican  Church  of  Henry  and 
Elizabeth  stood  for  what  we  would  now  regard  as 
tyranny.  What  Henry  VIII.  strove  to  do  with 
the  Anglican  Church  is  what  has  actually  been 
done  by  the  Czars  with  the  Orthodox  Church  in 
Russia ;  but  that  which  was  possible  with  the  east- 
em  Slavs  was  not  possible  with  the  westernmost 
and  freest  of  the  Teutonic  peoples.  Yet  in  the 
actual  event  it  was  probably  fortimate  that  the 
English  Reformation  took  the  shape  it  did;  for 
under  such  conditions  it  was  not  marked  by  the 
intense  fanaticism  of  the  reformers  elsewhere. 

The  Stuarts  not  only  foimd  themselves  masters 
of  a  kingdom  where,  supposedly,  they  were  spirit- 
ually supreme,  while  actually  their  claim  to  su- 
premacy was  certain  to  be  challenged ;  they  also 
found  themselves  at  the  head  of  a  form  of  govern- 
ment which  was  to  all  appearances  despotic,  while 
the  people  over  whom  they  bore  sway,  though 
slow  to  object  to  the  forms,  were  extremely  intol- 
erant of  the  practices  of  despotism.  The  Tudors 
were  unarmed  despots,  who  disliked  the  old  feudal 
nobility,  and  who  found  it  for  their  interest  to 
cultivate  the  commercial  classes,  and  to  form  a 
new  nobility  of  their  own,  based  upon  wealth. 


lo  Oliver  Cromwell 

The  men  at  the  lowest  rotind  of  the  social  ladder — 
the  workingmen  and  farm  laborers — were  yet,  as 
they  remained  for  a  couple  of  centuries,  so  unfit 
for  the  work  of  political  combination  that  they 
could  be  safely  disregarded  by  the  masters  of  Eng- 
land. At  times  their  discontent  was  manifested, 
generally  in  the  shape  of  abortive  peasant  insur- 
rections; but  there  was  never  need  to  consider 
them  as  of  serious  and  permanent  importance. 
The  middle  classes,  however,  had  become  very 
powerful,  and  to  their  material  interests  the  Tudors 
always  took  care  to  defer.  At  the  very  close  of 
her  reign,  Elizabeth,  who  was  at  heart  as  thorough 
a  tyrant  as  ever  lived,  but  who  possessed  that 
shrewd  good  sense  which,  if  not  the  noblest,  is 
perhaps  on  the  whole  the  most  useful  of  qualities 
in  the  actual  workaday  world,  foimd  herself  face 
to  face  with  her  people  on  the  question  of  monop- 
olies; and  as  soon  as  she  understood  that  they 
were  resolutely  opposed  to  her  policy,  she  instantly 
yielded.  In  other  words,  the  Tudor  despotism 
was  conditioned  upon  the  despot's  doing  nothing 
of  which  the  influential  classes  of  the  nation — ^the 
upper  and  middle  classes — seriously  disapproved ; 
and  this  the  Stuart  kings  could  never  imderstand. 
Moreover,  apart  from  the  fact  that  the  Stuarts 
were  so  much  less  shrewd  and  less  able  than  the 
Tudors,  there  was  the  further  fact  that  EngHshmen 
as  a  whole  were  gradually  growing  more  intolerant, 


The  Times  and  the  Man  n 

not  only  of  the  practice  but  of  the  pretense  of 
tyranny,  whether  in  things  material  or  in  things 
spiritual.  There  was  a  moral  awakening  which 
rendered  it  impossible  for  Englishmen  of  the  sev- 
enteenth century  to  submit  to  the  brutal  wrong- 
doing which  marked  the  political  and  ecclesiastical 
tyranny  of  the  previous  century.  The  career  of 
Henry  VIII.  could  not  have  been  paralleled  in 
any  shape  when  once  England  had  begim  to  breed 
such  men  as  went  to  the  making  of  the  Long 
Parliament. 

Much  of  the  aspiration  after  higher  things  took 
the  form  of  spiritual  imrest.  It  must  always  be 
remembered  that  the  Protestant  sects  which  estab- 
lished themselves  in  the  northern  half  of  Europe, 
although  they  warred  in  the  name  of  religious 
liberty,  had  no  more  conception  of  it,  as  we  of  this 
day  imderstand  it,  than  their  Catholic  foes;  and 
yet  it  must  also  be  remembered  that  the  bitter 
conflicts  they  waged  prepared  the  way  for  the 
wide  tolerance  of  individual  difference  in  matters 
of  religious  beHef  which  is  among  the  greatest 
blessings  of  our  modem  Hfe.  An  American  Cath- 
olic and  an  American  Protestant  of  to-day,  what- 
ever the  difference  between  their  theologies,  yet 
in  their  ways  of  looking  at  real  life,  at  its  relation 
to  religion,  and  the  relations  of  religion  and  the 
state,  are  infinitely  more  akin  to  one  another  than 
either  is  to  the  men  of  his  religious  faith  who  lived 


12  Oliver  Cromwell 

three  centuries  ago.  We  now  admit,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  that  any  man  may,  in  religious  matters, 
profess  to  be  guided  by  authority  or  by  reason,  as 
suits  him  best;  but  that  he  must  not  interfere 
with  similar  freedom  of  belief  in  others ;  and  that 
all  men,  whatever  their  religious  beliefs,  have 
exactly  the  same  political  rights  and  are  to  be  held 
to  the  same  responsibility  for  the  way  they  exercise 
these  rights.  Few  indeed  were  the  men  who  held 
such  views  at  the  time  when  Cromwell  was  grow- 
ing to  manhood.  Holland  was  the  State  of  all 
others  in  which  there  was  the  nearest  approach  to 
religious  liberty ;  and  even  in  Holland  the  bitter- 
ness of  the  Calvinists  toward  the  Arminians  was 
something  which  we  can  now  scarcely  understand. 
Arminius  was  no  more  at  home  in  Geneva  than 
in  Rome;  and  his  followers  were  prescribed  by 
the  most  religious  people  of  England,  and  so  far 
as  might  be  were  driven  from  the  realm.  Calvin- 
ists and  Lutherans  felt  as  little  inclination  as 
Catholics  to  allow  liberty  of  conscience  to  others ; 
and  as  grotesque  a  compromise  as  ever  was  made 
in  matters  religious  was  that  made  in  Germany, 
when  it  was  decided  that  the  peoples  of  the  various 
German  principalities  should  in  mass  accept  the 
faiths  of  their  respective  princes. 

Yet  though  the  Reformers  thus  strove  to  estab- 
lish for  their  own  use  the  very  religious  intolerance 
against  which  they  had  revolted,  the  mere  fact  of 


The  Times  and  the  Man  13 

their  existence  nullified  their  efforts.  Sooner  or 
later  people  who  had  exercised  their  own  judg- 
ment, and  had  fought  for  the  right  to  exercise  it, 
were  sure  grudgingly  to  admit  the  same  right 
in  others.  That  time  was  as  yet  far  distant. 
In  Cromwell's  youth  all  the  leading  Christian 
churches  were  fiercely  intolerant.  Unless  we 
keep  in  mind  that  this  was  the  general  attitude, 
an  attitude  which  necessarily  affected  even  the 
greatest  men,  we  cannot  do  justice  to  the  political 
and  social  leaders  of  that  age  when  we  find  them, 
as  we  so  often  do,  adopting  toward  their  religious 
foes  policies  from  which  we,  of  a  happier  age, 
turn  with  horror. 

In  England  hatred  of  Roman  Catholicism  had 
become  almost  interchangeable  with  hatred  of 
Spain.  Spain  had  been  the  one  dangerous  foe 
which  England  had  encoimtered  imder  the  Tudor 
dynasty,  and  the  only  war  she  had  ever  waged 
into  which  the  religious  element  entered  was  the 
war  which  put  upon  the  English  roll  of  honor  the 
names  of  her  great  sixteenth-century  seamen, 
Drake  and  Hawkins,  Howard  and  Frobisher. 
Throughout  the  sixteenth  century  Spain  had 
towered  above  every  other  power  of  Europe  in 
warlike  might;  and  though  the  Dutch  and  Eng- 
lish sailors  had  broken  the  spell  of  her  invinci- 
bility at  sea,  on  shore  her  soldiers  retained  their 
reputation  for  superior  prowess,  in  spite  of  the 


14  Oliver  Cromwell 

victories  of  Maurice  of  Orange,  until  Gustavus 
Adolphus  marched  his  wonderful  army  down  from 
the  frozen  North.  During  Cromwell's  youth  and 
early  manhood  Spain  was  still  the  most  powerful 
and  most  dreaded  of  European  nations.  Her 
government  had  become  a  mere  tyranny;  her 
religion  fanatical  bigotry  of  a  type  more  extreme 
than  any  that  existed  elsewhere,  even  in  an  age 
when  all  creeds  tended  toward  fanaticism  and 
bigotry.  It  was  in  Spain  that  the  Holy  Inquisi- 
tion chiefly  flourished — one  of  the  most  fearful 
engines  for  the  destruction  of  all  that  was  highest 
in  mankind  that  the  world  has  ever  seen.  Cath- 
olics were  oppressed  in  England  and  Protestants 
in  France;  but  in  each  coimtry  the  persecuted 
sect  might  almost  be  said  to  enjoy  liberty,  and 
certainly  to  enjoy  peace,  when  their  fate  was  com- 
pared with  the  dreadful  horrors  of  torture  and 
murder  with  which  Spain  crushed  out  every 
species  of  heresy  within  her  borders.  Jew,  Infidel, 
and  Protestant,  shared  the  same  awful  doom,  until 
she  had  purchased  complete  religious  uniformity 
at  the  price  of  the  loss  of  everything  that  makes 
national  life  great  and  noble.  The  dominion  of 
Spain  would  have  been  the  dominion  of  deso- 
lation; her  supremacy  as  baneful  as  that  of  the 
Turk;  and  Holland  and  England,  in  withstand- 
ing her,  rendered  the  same  service  to  humanity 
that  was  rendered  at  that  very  time  by  those 


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nations  of  southeastern  Europe  who  formed  out 
of  the  bodies  of  their  citizens  the  bulwark  which 
stayed  the  Turkish  fury. 

But  if  in  her  relations  to  one  Catholic  nation 
England  appeared  as  the  champion  of  religious 
liberty,  of  all  that  makes  life  worth  having  to  the 
free  men  who  live  in  free  nations,  yet  in  her  rela- 
tions to  another  Catholic  people  she  herself  played 
the  r61e  of  merciless  oppressor — religious,  political, 
and  social.  Ireland,  utterly  foreign  in  speech  and 
culture,  had  been  groimd  into  the  dust  by  the 
crushing  weight  of  England's  overlordship.  Dur- 
ing centuries  chaos  had  reigned  in  the  island ;  the 
English  intruders  possessing  sufficient  power  to 
prevent  the  development  of  any  Celtic  national 
life,  but  not  to  change  it  into  a  Norman  or  Eng- 
lish national  life.  The  English  who  settled  and 
warred  in  Ireland  felt  and  acted  as  the  most  bar- 
barous white  frontiersmen  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury have  acted  toward  the  alien  races  with  whom 
they  have  been  brought  in  contact.  There  is  no 
language  in  which  to  paint  the  hideous  atrocities 
committed  in  the  Irish  wars  of  Elizabeth;  and 
the  worst  must  be  credited  to  the  highest  English 
officials.  In  Ireland  the  antagonism  was  fimda- 
mentally  racial;  whether  the  sovereign  of  Eng- 
land were  Catholic  or  Protestant  made  little  dif- 
ference in  the  burden  of  wrong  which  the  Celt 
was  forced  to  bear.     The  first  of  the  so-called 


i6  Oliver  Cromwell 

plantations  by  which  the  Celts  were  ousted  in 
mass  from  great  tracts  of  country  to  make  room, 
for  English  settlers,  was  imdertaken  under  the 
Catholic  Queen  Mary,  and  the  two  coimties  thus 
created  by  the  wholesale  expulsion  of  the  wretched 
kerne  were  named  in  honor  of  the  Queen  and  of 
her  spouse,  the  Spanish  Philip.  Though  Philip's 
bigotry  made  him  the  persecutor  of  heretics,  it 
taught  him  no  mercy  toward  those  of  his  own 
faith  but  of  a  different  nationality,  whether  Irish 
or  Portuguese.  When  England  became  Prot- 
estant, Ireland  stood  steadfastly  for  the  old  faith ; 
and  religious  was  added  to  race  hatred.  In  Spain 
the  Holy  Inquisition  was  the  handmaid  of  grind- 
ing  tyranny.  In  Ireland  the  Catholic  priesthood 
was  the  sole  friend,  standby,  and  comforter  of  a 
hunted  and  despairing  people.  In  the  Nether- 
lands and  on  the  high  seas  Protestantism  was  the 
creed  of  liberty.  In  Ireland  it  was  one  of  the 
masks  worn  by  the  alien  oppressor. 

France  was  Catholic,  but  her  Catholicism  dif- 
fered essentially  from  that  of  Spain,  and  during 
the  first  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  was  quite 
as  liberal  as  the  Protestantism  of  England.  When 
Cromwell  was  a  child  Henry  of  Navarre  was  on 
the  French  throne,  and  to  him  all  creeds  were 
alike.  He  was  succeeded  in  the  actual  govem- 
tnent  of  France  by  the  great  Cardinals  Richelieu 
and  Mazarin,  who  were   statesmen  rather  than 


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churchmen;  and  under  them  the  French  Prot- 
estants enjoyed  rather  more  toleration  than  was 
allowed  the  Catholics  of  England.  The  natural 
foes  of  France  were  the  two  great  Catholic  powers 
of  Spain  and  Aiistria,  ruled  by  the  twin  branches 
of  the  House  of  Hapsburg;  and  her  hostility  to 
them  determined  her  attitude  throughout  the 
Thirty  Years'  War. 

Meanwhile,  Holland  was  at  the  height  of  her 
power.  She  had  a  far  greater  colonial  empire  than 
England, her  commercial  development  was  greater, 
and  the  renown  of  her  war  marine  higher.  Drake 
and  Hawkins  had  but  singed  the  beard  of  the 
Spanish  king,  had  but  plimdered  his  vessels  and 
harassed  his  great  fleets.  Van  Heemskirk,  Piet 
Hein,  and  the  elder  Tromp  crushed  the  sea- 
power  of  Spain  by  downright  hard  fighting  in 
great  pitched  battles,  and  captured  her  silver 
fleets  entire. 

In  Great  Britain  itself — it  must  be  kept  in 
mind  that  Scotland  was  as  yet  an  entirely  distinct 
kingdom,  imited  to  England  only  by  the  fact 
that  the  same  line  of  kings  ruled  over  both — the 
difference  between  the  Scotch  and  the  English, 
though  less  in  degree,  was  the  same  in  kind  as 
that  between  the  English  and  the  Dutch.  In 
Scotland,  outside  of  the  Highlands,  the  mass  of 
the  people  were  devoted  with  all  the  strength  of 
their  intense  and  virile  natures  to  the  form  of 


i8  Oliver  Cromwell 

Calvinism  introduced  by  Knox.  Their  Church 
government  was  Presbyterian.  As  both  the  Pres- 
byterian ministers  and  their  congregations  de- 
manded that  the  State  should  be  managed  in 
essentials  according  to  the  wishes  of  the  Church, 
the  general  feeling  was  really  in  the  direction  of 
a  theocratic  republic,  although  the  name  would 
have  frightened  them.  In  Scotland,  as  in  Eng- 
land, no  considerable  body  of  men  had  yet  grasped 
the  idea  that  there  should  be  toleration  of  religious 
differences  or  a  divorce  between  the  fimctions  of 
the  State  and  the  Church.  In  both  countries,  as 
elsewhere  at  the  time  through  Christendom,  reli- 
gious liberty  meant  only  religious  liberty  for  the 
sect  that  raised  the  cry;  but,  as  elsewhere,  the 
mere  use  of  the  name  as  a  banner  imder  which  to 
fight  brought  nearer  the  day  when  the  thing  itself 
would  be  possible. 

In  England  there  was  practically  peace  during 
the  first  forty  years  of  the  century,  but  it  was  an 
ignoble  and  therefore  an  evil  peace.  Of  course, 
peace  should  be  the  aim  of  all  statesmen,  and  is 
the  aim  of  the  greatest  statesman.  Nevertheless, 
not  only  the  greatest  statesmen,  but  all  men  who 
are  truly  wise  and  patriotic,  recognize  that  peace 
is  good  only  when  it  comes  honorably  and  is  used 
for  honorable  purposes,  and  that  the  peace  of 
mere  sloth  or  incapacity  is  as  great  a  curse  as  the 
most  imrighteous  war.     Those  who  doubt  this 


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would  do  well  to  study  the  condition  of  England 
during  the  reign  of  James  L,  and  during  the  first 
part  of  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  England  had  then 
no  standing  army  and  no  foreign  policy  worthy  of 
the  name.  The  chief  of  her  colonies  was  grow- 
ing up  almost  against  her  wishes,  and  wholly 
without  any  help  or  care  from  her.  In  short,  she 
realized  the  conditions,  as  regards  her  relations 
with  the  outside  world  and  "militarism,"  which 
certain  philosophers  advocate  at  the  present  day 
for  America.  The  result  was  a  gradual  rotting 
of  the  national  fiber,  which  rendered  it  necessary 
for  her  to  pass  through  the  fiery  ordeal  of  the  Civil 
War  in  order  that  she  might  be  saved. 

In  every  nation  there  is,  as  there  has  been  from 
time  immemorial,  a  good  deal  of  difficulty  in 
combining  the  policies  of  upholding  the  national 
honor  abroad,  and  of  preserving  a  not  too  heavily 
taxed  liberty  at  home.  :  Many  peoples  and  many 
rulers  who  have  solvedr^the  problem  with  marked 
success  as  regards  one  of  the  two  conditions,  have 
failed  as  regards  the  other.  It  was  the  peculiar 
privilege  of  the  Stuart  kings  to  fail  signally  in 
both.  They  were  dangerous  to  no  one  but  their 
own  subjects.  Their  government  was  an  object 
of  contempt  to  their  neighbors  and  of  contempt, 
mixed  with  anger  and  terror,  to  their  own  people. 
They  made  amends  for  utter  weakness  in  the  face 
of  a  foreign  foe  by  showing  against  the  free  men 


20  Oliver  Cromwell 

of  their  own  country  that  kind  of  tyranny  which 
finds  its  favorite  expression  in  oppressing  those 
who  resist  not  at  all,  or  ineffectually.  They  were 
held  on  the  throne  only  by  a  mistaken  but  hon- 
orable loyalty,  and  by  an  unworthy  servility ;  by 
the  strong  habits  formed  by  the  customs  of  cen- 
turies; and,  most  of  all,  by  the  wdse  distrust  of 
radical  innovation  and  preference  for  reform  to 
revolution  which  gives  to  the  English  race  its 
greatest  strength. 

This  last  attitude,  the  dislike  of  revolution, 
was  entirely  wholesome  and  praiseworthy.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  doctrine  of  the  divine  right 
of  kings,  which  represented  the  extreme  form  of 
loyalty  to  the  sovereign,  was  vicious,  unworthy  of 
the  race,  and  to  be  ranked  among  degrading 
superstitions.  It  is  now  so  dead  that  it  is  easy  to 
laugh  at  it ;  but  it  was  then  a  real  power  for  evil. 
Moreover,  the  extreme  zealots  who  represented 
the  opposite  pole  of  the  political  and  religious 
world,  were  themselves,  as  is  ordinarily  the  case 
with  such  extremists,  the  allies  of  the  forces 
against  which  they  pretended  to  fight.  From 
these  dreamers  of  dreams,  of  whose  ''cloistered 
virtue"  Milton  spoke  with  such  fine  contempt, 
the  men  who  possessed  the  capacity  to  do  things 
turned  contemptuously  away,  seeking  practical 
results  rather  than  theoretical  perfection,  and 
being  content  to  get  the  substance  at  some  cost 


The  Times  and  the  Man  21 

of  form.  As  always,  the  men  who  coimted  were 
those  who  strove  for  actual  achievement  in  the 
field  of  practical  politics,  and  who  were  not  mis- 
led merely  by  names.  England,  in  the  present 
century,  has  shown  how  complete  may  be  the 
freedom  of  the  individual  imder  a  nominal  mon- 
archy ;  and  the  Dreyfus  incident  in  France  would 
be  proof  enough,  were  any  needed,  that  despotism 
of  a  peculiarly  revolting  type  may  grow  rankly, 
even  in  a  republic,  if  there  is  not  in  its  citizens  a 
firm  and  lofty  purpose  to  do  justice  to  all  men 
and  guard  the  rights  of  the  weak  as  well  as  of  the 
strong. 

James  came  to  the  throne  to  rule  over  a  people 
steadily  growing  to  think  more  and  more  seriously 
of  religion;  to  believe  more  and  more  in  their 
rights  and  liberties.  But  the  King  himself  was 
cursed  with  a  fervent  belief  in  despotism,  and  an 
utter  inability  to  give  his  belief  practical  shape  in 
deeds.  For  half  a  century  the  spirit  of  sturdy 
independence  had  been  slowly  growing  among 
Englishmen.  Elizabeth  governed  almost  tmder 
the  forms  of  despotism ;  but  a  despotism  which 
does  not  carry  the  sword  has  to  accommodate 
itself  pretty  thoroughly  to  the  desires  of  the  sub- 
jects, once  these  desires  become  clearly  defined 
and  formulated.  Elizabeth  never  ventured  to  do 
what  Henry  had  done.  She  left  England,  there- 
fore, thoroughly  Royalist,  devoted  to  the  Crown, 


22  Oliver  Cromwell 

and  unable  to  conceive  of  any  other  form  of  gov- 
ernment, but  already  desirous  of  seeing  an  in- 
crease in  the  power  of  the  people  as  expressed 
through  Parliament.  James,  from  the  very  outset 
of  his  reign,  pursued  a  course  of  conduct  exactly 
fitted  both  to  irritate  the  people  with  the  pre- 
tensions of  the  Crown,  and  to  convince  them  that 
they  could  prevent  these  pretensions  from  being 
carried  out. 

Besides,  he  offended  both  their  political  and 
their  religious  feelings.  England  had  been  grow- 
ing more  and  more  fanatically  Protestant ;  that  is, 
more  and  more  Puritan.  Under  Elizabeth  there 
had  been  more  religious  persecution  of  Puritans, 
and  of  Dissenters  generally,  than  of  Catholics. 
But  this  could  not  prevent  the  growth  of  the  spirit 
of  Puritanism.  During  the  reign  of  James  there 
were  marked  Presbyterian  tendencies  visible 
within  the  Anglican  Church  itself,  and  plenty 
of  Puritans  among  her  divines.  Unfortimately, 
both  Presbyterian  and  Anglican  were  then  as  one 
in  heartily  condemning  that  spirit  of  true  reli- 
gious liberty,  of  true  toleration,  which  we  of 
to-day  in  the  United  States  recognize  as  the  most 
vital  of  religious  rights.  The  so-called  Inde- 
pendent movement,  from  which  sprang  the  Con- 
gregational and  indeed  the  Baptist  Churches  as 
we  know  them  to-day,  had  begun  under  Elizabeth. 
Its  votaries  contended  for  what  now  seems  the 


The  Times  and  the  Man  23 

self-evident  right  of  each  congregation,  if  it  so 
desires,  to  decide  for  itself  important  questions 
of  doctrine  and  of  church  management.  Yet 
Elizabeth's  ministers  had  actually  stamped  this 
sect  out  of  existence,  with  the  hearty  approval  of 
the  wisest  men  in  the  realm  and  of  the  enormous 
majority  of  the  people.  Such  an  act,  and,  above 
all,  such  approval,  shows  how  long  and  difficult 
was  the  road  which  still  had  to  be  traversed 
before  the  goal  of  religious  Hberty  was  reached. 

The  people  were  relatively  less  advanced 
toward  religious  than  toward  political  liberty. 
Nevertheless,  they  were  distinctly  in  advance  of 
the  King,  even  in  matters  religious.  The  reso- 
lute determination  to  fight  for  one's  own  liberty 
of  conscience,  when  it  once  becomes  the  charac- 
teristic of  the  majority,  cannot  but  tend  toward 
securing  liberty  of  conscience  for  all;  whereas, 
for  one  man,  who  claims  supremacy  in  the 
Church  as  well  as  overlordship  in  the  State,  to 
seek  to  impose  his  will  upon  others  in  matters 
both  spiritual  and  political,  cannot  but  produce  a 
very  aggravated  form  of  tyranny.  The  Stuarts 
represented  an  extreme,  reactionary  type  of  king- 
ship ;  a  type  absolutely  alien  to  all  that  was  high- 
est and  most  characteristic  in  the  English  charac- 
ter. They  possessed  the  will  to  be  despots,  but 
neither  their  own  powers  nor  the  tendencies  of 
the  times  were  in  their  favor.     The  tendency 


24  Oliver  Cromwell 

was,  however,  very  strongly  in  favor  of  hereditary 
kingship;  so  strongly,  indeed,  that  nothing  but 
the  extreme  folly  as  well  as  the  extreme  base- 
ness of  the  Stuart  kings  could  overcome  it. 
Stability  of  government,  and  therefore  order, 
depends  in  the  last  resort  upon  the  ability  of  the 
people  to  come  to  a  consensus  as  to  where  power 
belongs.  This  consensus  is  less  a  matter  of 
volition  than  of  long  habit,  of  slow  evolution ;  to 
Americans  of  to-day,  the  rule  of  the  majority 
seems  part  of  the  natural  order  of  things,  whereas 
to  Russians  it  seems  utterly  unnatural,  and  they 
could  by  no  possibility  be  brought  into  sudden 
acquiescence  in  it.  To  Englishmen,  in  the  early 
decades  of  the  seventeenth  century,  hereditary 
kingship  seemed  the  only  natural  government, 
and  they  could  be  severed  from  this  belief  only 
by  a  succession  of  violent  wrenches. 
^  James  I.  stood  for  absolutism  in  Church  and 
State,  and  quarreled  with  and  annoyed  his  sub- 
jects in  the  futile  effort  to  realize  his  ideas.  Charles 
I.,  whom  James  had  vainly  sought  to  marry  to  a 
Spanish  princess,  and  succeeded  in  marrying  to  a 
French  princess  (Henrietta  Maria),  took  up  his 
father's  task.  In  private  life  he  was  the  best  of 
the  Stuart  kings,  reaching  about  the  average  level 
of  his  subjects.  In  public  life  his  treachery,  men- 
dacity, folly,  and  vindictiveness ;  his  utter  inabil- 
ity to  learn  by  experience  or  to  sympathize  with 


The  Times  and  the  Man  25 

any  noble  ambition  of  his  country ;  his  readiness 
to  follow  evil  counsel,  and  his  ingratitude  toward 
any  sincere  friend,  made  him  as  imfit  as  either  of 
his  sons  to  sit  on  the  English  throne ;  and  a  greater 
condemnation  than  this  it  is  not  possible  to  award. 
Germany  was  convulsed  by  the  Thirty  Years* 
War :  but  Charles  cared  nothing  for  the  struggle, 
and  to  her  humiliation  England  had  to  see  Sweden 
step  to  the  front  as  the  champion  of  the  Refor- 
mation. At  one  period  Charles  even  started  to 
help  the  French  king  against  the  Huguenots,  but 
was  brought  to  a  halt  by  the  outburst  of  wrath 
this  called  forth  from  his  subjects.  Once  he  made 
feeble  war  on  Spain,  and  again  he  made  feeble 
war  on  France ;  but  the  expedition  he  sent  against 
Cadiz  failed,  and  the  expedition  he  sent  to 
Rochelle  was  beaten;  and  he  was,  in  each  case, 
forced  to  make  peace  without  gaining  anything. 
The  renown  of  the  English  arms  never  stood 
lower  than  during  the  reigns  of  the  first  two 
Stuarts. 

At  the  outset  of  his  reign  Charles  sought  to 
govern  through  Buckingham,  who  was  entirely  fit 
to  be  his  minister,  and,  therefore,  imfit  to  be 
trusted  with  the  slightest  governmental  task  on 
behalf  of  a  free  and  great  people.  Under  Buck- 
ingham the  grossest  corruption  obtained — ^not 
only  in  the  public  service,  but  in  the  creation  of 
peerages.     His  whole  administration  represented 


26  Oliver  Cromwell 

nothing  but  violence  and  bribery;  and  when  he 
took  command  of  the  forces  to  be  employed 
against  Rochelle,  he  showed  that  the  list  of  his 
qualities  included  complete  military  incapacity. 

It  was  after  the  failure  at  Rochelle  that  Charles 
summoned  his  third  Parliament.  With  his  first 
two  he  had  failed  to  do  more  than  quarrel,  as  they 
would  not  grant  him  supplies  unless  they  were 
allowed  the  right  to  have  something  to  say  as  to 
how  they  were  to  be  used.  He  had,  therefore, 
dissolved  them,  holding  that  their  only  function 
was  to  give  him  what  may  be  needed. 

With  his  third  Parliament  he  got  on  no  better. 
In  it  two  great  men  sprang  to  the  front — Sir 
Thomas  Went  worth,  afterward  Lord  Strafford, 
and  Sir  John  Eliot,  who  had  already  shown  him- 
self a  leader  of  the  party  that  stood  for  free  repre- 
sentative institutions  as  against  the  unbridled 
power  of  the  King.  Eliot  was  a  man  of  pure  and 
high  character,  and  of  daimtless  resolution,  though 
a  good  deal  of  a  doctrinaire  in  his  belief  that  Par- 
liamentary government  was  the  cure  for  all  the 
evils  of  the  body  politic.  Wentworth,  dark,  able, 
imperious,  imscrupulous,  was  a  bom  leader,  but 
he  had  no  root  of  true  principle  in  him.  At  the 
moment,  from  jealousy  of  Buckingham,  and  from 
desire  to  show  that  he  would  have  to  be  placated 
if  the  King  were  awake  to  self-interest,  he  threw 
all  the  weight  of  his  great  power  on  the  popular 


The  Times  and  the  Man  27 

side.  Instead  of  giving  the  King  the  money  he 
wanted,  Parliament  formulated  a  Petition  of 
Right,  demanding  such  elementary  measures  of 
justice  as  that  the  King  should  agree  never  again 
to  raise  a  forced  loan,  or  give  his  soldiers  free 
quarters  on  householders,  or  execute  martial  law 
in  time  of  peace,  or  send  whom  he  wished  to 
prison  without  showing  the  cause  for  which  it  was 
done.  The  last  was  the  provision  against  which 
Charles  struggled  hardest.  The  Star  Chamber — 
a  court  which  sat  without  a  jury,  and  which  was 
absolutely  imder  the  King's  jurisdiction — ^had 
been  one  of  his  favorite  instruments  in  working 
his  arbitrary  will.  The  powers  of  this  court  were 
left  untouched  by  the  Petition :  yet  even  the  ser- 
vice this  court  could  render  him  was  far  less  than 
what  he  could  render  himself  if  it  lay  in  his  power 
arbitrarily  to  imprison  men  without  giving  the 
cause.  However,  his  need  of  money  was  so  great, 
and  the  Commons  stood  so  firm,  that  he  had 
to  yield,  and  on  June  7,  in  the  year  1628,  the 
Petition  of  Right  became  part  of  the  law  of  the 
land.  The  first  step  had  been  taken  toward 
cutting  out  of  the  English  Constitution  the 
despotic  powers  which  the  Tudor  kings  had  be- 
queathed to  their  Stuart  successors. 

Immediately  afterward  Buckingham  was  assas- 
sinated by  a  soldier  who  had  taken  a  violent 
grudge  against  him,  and  the  nation  breathed  freer 


28  Oliver  Cromwell 

with  this  particular  stumbling-block  removed, 
while  it  lessened  the  strain  between  the  King  and 
the  Commons,  who  were  bent  on  his  impeach- 
ment. 

There  were  far  more  serious  troubles  ahead.  If 
the  King  could  raise  money  without  summoning 
Parliament,  he  could  rule  absolutely.  If  Parlia- 
ment could  control  not  only  the  raising,  but  the 
expenditure  of  money,  it  would  be  the  supreme 
source  of  power,  and  the  King  but  a  figure-head ; 
in  other  words,  the  government  would  be  put  upon 
the  basis  on  which  it  has  actually  stood  during 
the  present  century.  For  many  reigns  the  Com- 
mons had  been  accustomed  to  vote  to  each  king 
for  life,  at  the  outset  of  his  reign,  the  duties  on 
exports  and  imports,  known  as  tonnage  and 
poimdage ;  but  during  the  years  immediately  past 
men  had  been  forced  to  think  much  on  liberty 
and  self-government.  Parliament  was  in  no  mood 
to  surrender  absolute  power  to  the  King. 

With  the  right  to  lay  taxes  and  to  supervise 
the  expenditure  of  money — that  is,  to  conduct 
the  government — was  intertwined  the  j^^uestion  of 
religion.  The  mass  of  Englishmen  adhered  rather 
loosely  to  the  Anglican  communion,  and  were 
not  extreme  Puritans ;  on  certain  points,  however, 
they  were  tinged  very  deeply  with  Calvinism. 
They  were  greatly  angered  by  the  attitude  of 
those   bishops,    who    under   the   lead    of    Laud 


The  Times  and  the  Man  29 

showed  themselves  more  hostile  to  Protestant 
than  to  Catholic  dogmas.  These  bishops  preached 
not  only  that  the  views  in  Church  matters  held 
by  the  bulk  of  Englishmen  were  wrong,  but 
furthermore  that  it  was  the  duty  of  every  subject 
to  render  entire  obedience  to  the  sovereign,  no 
matter  what  the  sovereign  did,  and  they  insisted 
that  parliaments  were  of  right  mere  ciphers  in  the 
State.  Such  doctrines  were  not  only  irritating 
from  the  theological  standpoint ;  they  also  struck 
at  the  root  of  political  freedom.  The  religious 
antagonism  was  accentuated  by  the  fact  that  at 
this  time  the  Protestant  cause  in  Germany  had 
touched  the  lowest  point  it  ever  reached  during 
the  Thirty  Years'  War,  and  the  anger  and  alarm 
of  the  English  Protestants,  as  they  saw  the  Cal- 
vinists  and  Lutherans  of  Denmark  and  North  Ger- 
many overcome,  were  heightened  by  the  indiffer- 
ence, if  not  satisfaction,  with  which  the  King  and 
the  bishops  looked  at  the  struggle. 

In  1629  the  Commons,  tinder  the  lead  of  Eliot 
and  Pym,  took  advanced  groimd  alike  on  the 
questions  of  religion  and  of  taxation.  Pym  was 
supplementing  Eliot's  work,  which  was  to  make 
the  House  of  Commons  the  supreme  authority  in 
England,  by  striving  to  associate  together  a 
majority  of  the  members  for  the  achievement  of 
certain  common  objects ;  in  other  words,  he  was 
laying    the    foundation    of    party    government. 


30  Oliver  Cromwell 

Under  the  lead  of  these  two  men,  the  first  two 
Parliamentary  and  popular  leaders  in  the  modem 
sense,  the  House  of  Commons  passed  resolutions 
demanding  uniformity  in  religious  belief  through- 
out the  kingdom  and  condemning  every  innovation 
in  religion,  and  declaring  enemies  to  the  kingdom 
and  traitors  to  its  liberties  whoever  advised  the 
levying  of  tonnage  and  poundage  without  the 
authority  of  Parliament,  or  whoever  voluntarily 
paid  those  duties.  The  first  clause  hit  Catholics 
and  Dissenters  alike,  but  was  especially  aimed  at 
the  bishops  and  their  followers,  who  stood  closest 
to  the  King;  and  the  second  was,  of  course,  in- 
tended to  transfer  the  sovereignty  from  the  King 
to  Parliament — in  other  words,  from  the  King  to 
the  people.  Charles  met  the  challenge  by  dis- 
solving Parliament.  Eleven  years  were  to  pass 
before  another  met.  Meantime,  the  King  gov- 
erned as  a  despot;  and  it  must  be  remembered 
that  when  he  deliberately  chose  thus  to  govern  as 
a  despot,  responsible  to  no  legal  tribtmal,  he  at 
once  threw  his  subjects  back  on  the  only  remedies 
which  it  is  possible  to  enforce  against  despotism — 
deposition  or  death. 

Charles  was  bitterly  angry  at  the  sturdy  inde- 
pendence shown  by  the  Commons,  and  marked 
out  for  vengeance  those  who  had  been  fore- 
most in  thwarting  his  wishes.  His  course  was 
easy.     The  Petition  of  Right  formulated  a  prin- 


The  Times  and  the  Man  31 

ciple,  but  as  yet  it  offered  no  safeguard  against 
an  unscrupulous  king;  while  the  Star  Chamber 
court,  and  the  other  judges  for  that  matter,  held 
ofhce  at  his  pleasure,  and  acted  as  his  subservient 
tools  in  fining  and  imprisoning  merchants  who 
refused  payment  of  the  duties,  or  men  whose  acts 
or  words  the  King  chose  to  consider  seditious. 
Eliot  and  some  of  his  fellow-members  were 
thrown  into  prison  because  of  the  culminating 
proceedings  in  Parliament.  Eliot's  comrades 
made  submission  and  were  released,  but  Eliot 
refused  to  acknowledge  that  the  King,  through 
his  courts,  had  any  right  to  meddle  with  what 
was  done  in  Parliament.  He  took  his  stand 
firmly  on  the  grotmd  that  the  King  was  not  the 
master  of  Parliament,  and  of  course  this  could 
but  mean  ultimately  that  Parliament  was  master 
of  the  King.  In  other  words,  he  was  one  of  the 
earliest  leaders  of  the  movement  which  has  pro- 
duced English  freedom  and  English  government 
as  we  now  know  them.  He  was  also  its  martyr. 
He  was  kept  in  the  Tower  without  air  or  exer- 
cise for  three  years,  the  King  vindictively  refus- 
ing to  allow  the  slightest  relaxation  in  his  con- 
finement, even  when  it  brought  on  consumption. 
In  December,  1632,  he  died;  and  the  King's 
hatred  foimd  its  last  expression  in  denying  to 
his  kinsfolk  the  privilege  of  burying  him  in  his 
Cornish  home. 


32  Oliver  Cromwell 

Charles  set  eagerly  to  work  to  rule  the  kingdom 
by  himself.  To  the  Puritan  dogma  of  enforced 
unity  of  religious  belief — utterly  mischievous,  and 
just  as  much  fraught  with  slavery  to  the  soul  in 
one  sect  as  another — ^he  sought,  through  Laud,  to 
oppose  the  only  less  mischievous,  because  silly, 
doctrine  of  enforced  uniformity  in  the  externals 
of  public  worship.  Laud  was  a  small  and  narrow 
man,  hating  Puritanism  in  every  form,  and  perse- 
cuting bitterly  every  clergyman  or  layman  who 
deviated  in  any  way  from  what  he  regarded  as 
proper  ecclesiastical  custom.  His  tyranny  was 
of  that  fussy  kind  which,  without  striking  terror, 
often  irritates  nearly  to  madness.  He  was  Charles's 
instrument  in  the  effort  to  secure  ecclesiastical 
absolutism. 

The  instrument  through  which  the  King  sought 
to  establish  the  royal  prerogative  in  political 
affairs  was  of  far  more  formidable  temper.  Im- 
mediately after  the  dissolution  of  Parliament 
Wentworth  had  obtained  his  price  from  the  King, 
and  was  appointed  to  be  his  right-hand  man  in 
administering  the  kingdom.  A  man  of  great 
shrewdness  and  insight,  he  seems  to  have  strug- 
gled to  govern  well,  according  to  his  lights;  but 
he  despised  law  and  acted  upon  the  belief  that 
the  people  should  be  slaves,  impermitted,  as  they 
were  tinfit,  to  take  any  share  in  governing  them- 
selves.  After  a  while  Laud  was  made  archbishop; 


The  Times  and  the  Man  33 

and  Went  worth  was  later  made  Lord  Strafford. 
Went  worth  and  Laud,  with  their  associates, 
when  they  tried  to  govern  on  such  terms,  were 
continually  clashing  with  the  people.  A  govern- 
ment thus  carried  on  naturally  aroused  resistance, 
which  often  itself  took  unjustifiable  forms;  and 
this  resistance  was,  in  its  turn,  pimished  with  re- 
volting brutality.  Criticism  of  Laudian  methods, 
or  of  existing  social  habits,  might  take  scurrilous 
shape ;  and  then  the  critic's  ears  were  hacked  off 
as  he  stood  in  the  pillory,  or  he  was  imprisoned 
for  life.  The  great  fight  was  made,  not  on  a  relig- 
ious, but  on  a  purely  political  question — ^that  of 
Ship  Money.  The  King  wished  to  go  to  war  with 
the  Dutch,  and  to  raise  his  fleet  he  issued  writs, 
first  to  the  maritime  counties,  and  then  to  every 
shire  in  England.  He  consulted  his  judges,  who 
stated  that  his  action  was  legal:  as  well  they 
might,  for  when  a  judge  disagreed  with  him  on 
any  important  point,  he  was  promptly  dismissed 
from  office.  But  there  was  one  man  in  the  king- 
dom who  thought  differently,  John  Hampden,  a 
Buckinghamshire  'squire,  who  had  already  once 
sat  as  a  silent  member  in  Parliament,  together  with 
another  equally  silent  member  of  the  same  social 
standing,  his  nephew,  Oliver  Cromwell.  Hamp- 
den was  assessed  at  twenty  shillings.  The  amoimt 
was  of  no  more  importance  than  the  value  of  the 
tea  which  a  century  and  a  half  later  was  thrown 
3 


34  Oliver  Cromwell 

into  Boston  Harbor ;  but  in  each  case  a  vital  prin- 
ciple— ^the  same  vital  principle — was  involved. 
If  the  King  could  take  twenty  shillings  from 
Hampden  without  authority  from  the  representa- 
tives of  the  people  in  Parliament  assembled,  then 
his  rule  was  absolute:  he  could  do  what  he 
pleased.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  House  of 
Commons  could  do  as  it  wished  in  granting 
money  only  for  whatever  need  it  chose  to  recog- 
nize in  the  kingdom,  then  the  House  of  Commons 
was  supreme.  In  Hampden's  view  but  one  course 
was  possible — ^he  was  for  the  Parliament  and  the 
nation  against  the  King;  and  he  refused  to  pay 
the  sum,  facing  without  a  murmur  the  pimish- 
ment  for  his  contum^acy. 

The  King  and  his  ministers  did  not  flinch  from 
proceeding  to  any  length  against  either  political 
or  religious  opponents.  Charles  heartily  upheld 
Laud  and  Wentworth  in  carrying  out  their  policy 
of  ''thorough";  Laud  in  England;  Wentworth, 
after  1633,  in  Ireland.  ** Thorough,"  in  their 
sense  of  the  word,  meant  making  the  State,  which 
was  the  King,  paramount  in  every  ecclesiastical 
and  political  matter,  and  putting  his  interests 
above  the  interests,  the  principles,  and  the  preju- 
dices of  all  classes  and  all  parties ;  paying  heed  to 
nothing  but  to  what  seemed  right  in  the  eyes  of 
the  sovereign  and  the  sovereign's  chosen  advisers. 
Under  Wentworth's  strong  hand  a  certain  amount 


The  Times  and  the  Man  35 

of  material  prosperity  followed  in  Ireland,  although 
chiefly  among  the  EngHsh  settlers.  There  was 
no  such  material  prosperity  in  England;  1630, 
for  instance,  was  a  famine  year.  The  net  effect 
of  the  policy  would  in  the  long  run  have  been  to 
bring  down  a  freedom-loving  people  to  a  lower 
grade  of  political  and  social  development.  There 
was,  of  course,  no  oppression  in  England  in  any 
way  resembling  such  oppression  as  that  which 
flogged  the  Dutch  to  revolt  against  the  Spaniards. 
But  it  was  exactly  the  kind  of  oppression  which 
led,  in  1776,  to  the  American  Revolution.  Eliot, 
Hampden,  and  Pym,  stood  for  the  principles  that 
were  championed  by  Washington,  Patrick  Henry, 
and  the  Adamses.  The  grievances  which  forced 
the  Long  Parliament  to  appeal  to  arms  were  like 
those  which  made  the  Continental  Congress  throw 
off  the  sovereignty  of  George  HI.  In  neither 
case  was  there  the  kind  of  grinding  tyranny  which 
has  led  to  the  assassination  of  tyrants  and  the 
frantic,  bloodthirsty  uprising  of  tortured  slaves. 
In  each  case  the  tyranny  was  in  its  first  stage,  not 
its  last ;  but  the  reason  for  this  was  simply  that  a 
nation  of  vigorous  freemen  will  always  revolt  by 
the  time  the  first  stage  has  been  reached.  It  was 
not  possible,  either  for  the  Stuart  kings  or  for 
George  III.,  to  go  beyond  a  certain  point,  for  as 
soon  as  that  point  was  reached  the  freemen  were 
called  to  arms  by  their  leaders. 


36  Oliver  Cromwell 

However,  there  was  the  greatest  reluctance 
among  Englishmen  to  countenance  rebellion,  even 
for  the  best  of  causes.  This  reluctance  was  emi- 
nently justifiable.  Rebellion,  revolution — the  ap- 
peal to  arms  to  redress  grievances;  these  are 
measures  that  can  only  be  justified  in  extreme 
cases.  It  is  far  better  to  suffer  any  moderate  evil, 
or  even  a  very  serious  evil,  so  long  as  there  is  a 
chance  of  its  peaceable  redress,  than  to  plunge  the 
country  into  civil  war ;  and  the  men  who  head  or 
instigate  armed  rebellions  for  which  there  is  not 
the  most  ample  justification  must  be  held  as  one 
degree  worse  than  any  but  the  most  evil  tyrants. 
(Between  the  Scylla  of  despotism  and  the  Charybdis 
of  anarchy  there  is  but  little  to  choose;  and  the 
pilot  who  throws  the  ship  upon  one  is  as  blame- 
Worthy  as  he  who  throws  it  on  the  other?]  But  a 
point  may  be  reached  where  the  people'liave  to 
assert  their  rights,  be  the  peril  what  it  may;  and 
in  Great  Britain  this  point  was  passed  under 
Charles  I. 

The  first  break  came,  not  in  England,  but  in 
Scotland.  The  Scotch  abhorred  Episcopacy; 
whereas  the  English  had  no  objection  whatever 
to  bishops,  so  long  as  the  bishops  did  not  outrage 
the  popular  religious  convictions.  In  Scotland 
the  spirit  of  Puritanism  was  uppermost,  and  was 
already  exhibiting  both  its  strength  and  its  weak- 
ness ;   its  sincerity  and  its  lack  of  breadth ;   its 


The  Times  and  the  Man  37 

stem  morality  and  its  failure  to  discriminate 
between  essentials  and  non-essentials ;  its  loftiness 
of  aim  and  its  tendency  to  condemn  liberality  of 
thought  in  religion,  art,  literature,  and  science, 
alike  as  irreligious ;  its  insistence  on  purity  of  life, 
and  yet  its  imconscious  tendency  to  promote 
hypocrisy  and  to  drive  out  one  form  of  religious 
tyranny  merely  to  erect  another. 

A  man  of  any  insight  would  not  have  striven 
to  force  an  alien  system  of  ecclesiastical  govern- 
ment upon  a  people  so  stubborn  and  self-reliant, 
who  were  wedded  to  their  own  system  of  religious 
thought.  But  this  was  what  Laud  attempted,  with 
the  full  approval  of  Charles.  In  1637  he  made  a 
last  effort  to  introduce  the  ceremonies  of  the  Eng- 
lish Church  at  Edinburgh.  No  sooner  was  the 
reading  of  the  Prayer-Book  begim  than  the  con- 
gregation burst  into  wild  uproar,  execrating  it  as 
no  better  than  celebrating  mass.  It  was  essentially 
a  popular  revolt.  The  incident  of  Jenny  Geddes's 
stool  may  be  mythical,  but  it  was  among  the 
women  and  men  of  the  lower  orders  that  the 
resistance  was  stoutest.  The  whole  nation  re- 
sponded to  the  cry,  and  hurried  to  sign  a  national 
Covenant,  engaging  to  defend  the  Reformed  reli- 
gion, and  to  do  away  with  all  *  'innovations" ;  that  is, 
with  everything  in  which  Episcopacy  differed  from 
Puritanism  and  inclined  toward  the  Church  of 
Rome.    In  England  and  Scotland  aHke  the  Church 


sS  Oliver  Cromwell 

of  Rome  was  still  accepted  by  the  people  at  large 
as  the  most  dangerous  of  enemies.  The  wonderful 
career  of  Gustavus  Adolphus  had  just  closed. 
The  Thirty  Years'  War — the  last  great  religious 
struggle — was  still  at  its  height.  If,  in  France, 
the  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  stood  far  in  the 
past,  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  yet 
lay  in  the  future.  The  after-glow  of  the  fires  of 
Smithfield  still  gleamed  with  lurid  light  in  each 
somber  Puritan  heart.  The  men  who,  in  England, 
were  most  earnest  about  their  religion  held  to 
their  Calvinistic  creed  with  the  utmost  sincerity, 
high  purpose,  and  self-devotion :  but  with  no  little 
harshness.  Theirs  was  a  lofty  creed,  but  one 
which,  in  the  revolt  against  levity  and  viciousness, 
set  up  a  standard  of  gloom ;  and,  though  ready  to 
fight  to  the  death  for  liberty  for  themselves,  they 
had  as  yet  little  idea  of  tolerating  liberty  in  others. 
Naturally,  such  men  sympathized  with  one  an- 
other, and  the  action  of  the  Scotch  was  heartily, 
though  secretly,  applauded  by  the  stoutest  Pres- 
byterians of  England.  Moreover,  while  menaced 
by  the  common  oppressor,  the  Puritan  independ- 
ents, who  afterward  split  off  from  the  Presby- 
terians, made  common  cause  with  them,  the  irrec- 
oncilable differences  between  the  two  bodies  not 
yet  being  evident. 

Soon  the  Scotch  held  a  general  assembly  of  the 
Church,  composed  of  both  clerical  and  lay  mem- 


The  Times  and  the  Man  39 

bers,  and  formally  abolished  Episcopacy,  in  spite 
of  the  angry  protests  of  the  King.  Their  action 
amounted  in  effect  to  establishing  a  theocracy. 
They  repudiated  the  unlimited  power  of  the  King 
and  the  bishops,  as  men  would  do  nowadays  in  like 
case ;  but  they  declared  against  liberty  of  thought 
and  conduct  in  religious  matters,  basing  their 
action  on  practically  the  same  line  of  reasoning 
that  influenced  the  very  men  they  most  denoimced, 
hated,  and  feared. 

The  King  took  up  the  glove  which  the  Scotch 
had  thrown  down.  He  raised  an  army  and  tm- 
dertook  the  first  of  what  were  derisively  known 
as  the  "Bishops'  Wars."  But  his  people  sympa- 
thized with  the  Scotch  rather  than  with  him.  He 
got  an  army  together  on  the  Border,  but  it  would 
not  fight,  and  he  was  forced  reluctantly  to  treat 
for  peace.  Then  Strafford  came  back  from  Ire- 
land and  requested  Charles  to  summon  a  Parlia- 
ment so  that  he  could  get  funds.  In  April,  1640, 
the  Short  Parliament  came  together,  but  the  Eng- 
lish spirit  was  now  almost  as  high  as  the  Scotch 
in  hostility  to  the  King,  and  Parliament  would 
not  grant  anything  to  the  ICing  imtil  the  griev- 
ances of  the  people  were  redressed.  To  this 
demand  Charles  would  not  listen,  and  the  Parlia- 
ment was  promptly  dissolved.  Then,  being 
heartened  by  Laud,  and  especially  by  Strafford, 
Charles  renewed  the  war,  only  to  see  his  army 


40  Oliver  Cromwell 

driven  in  headlong  panic  before  the  Scotch  at 
Newbum.  The  result  was  that  he  had  to  try  to 
patch  up  a  peace  under  the  direction  of  Strafford. 
But  the  Scotch  would  not  leave  the  kingdom  until 
they  were  paid  the  expenses  of  the  war.  There 
was  no  money  to  pay  them,  and  Charles  had  to 
summon  Parliament  once  more.  On  November  3, 
1640,  the  Long  Parliament  met  at  Westminster. 

When  Oliver  Cromwell  took  his  seat  in  the 
Long  Parliament  he  was  forty-one  years  old.  He 
had  been  bom  at  Htintingdon  on  April  25,  1599, 
and  by  birth  belonged  to  the  lesser  gentry,  or 
upper  middle-class.  The  original  name  of  the 
family  had  been  Williams ;  it  was  of  Welsh  origin. 
There  were  many  Crom wells,  and  Oliver  was  a 
common  name  among  them.  One  of  the  Pro- 
tector's uncles  bore  the  name,  and  remained  a 
stanch  Loyalist  throughout  the  Civil  War.  Oli- 
ver's own  father,  Robert,  was  a  man  in  very 
moderate  circumstances,  his  estate  in  the  town  of 
Himtingdon  bringing  an  income  of  some  £300  a 
year.  Oliver's  mother,  Elizabeth  Steward  of  Ely, 
seems  to  have  been  of  much  stronger  character 
than  his  father.  The  Stewards,  like  the  Crom- 
wells,  were  ''new  people,"  both  families,  like  so 
many  others  of  the  day,  owing  their  rise  to  the 
spoliation  of  the  monasteries.  Oliver's  father  was 
a  brewer,  and  his  success  in  the  management  of 
the  brewery  was  mainly  due  to  Oliver's  mother. 


The  Times  and  the  Man  41 

No  other  member  of  Oliver's  family — ^neither  his 
wife  nor  his  father — influenced  him  as  did  his 
mother.  She  was  devoted  to  him,  and  he,  in  turn, 
loved  her  tenderly  and  respected  her  deeply.  He 
followed  her  advice  when  yoting;  he  established 
her  in  the  Royal  Palace  of  Whitehall  when  he 
came  to  greatness ;  and  when  she  died  he  buried 
her  in  Westminster  Abbey.  As  a  boy  he  received 
his  education  at  Htmtingdon,  but  when  seventeen 
years  old  was  sent  to  Cambridge  University.  A 
strong,  hearty  yoimg  fellow;  fond  of  horse-play 
and  rough  pranks — as  indeed  he  showed  himself 
to  be  even  when  the  weight  of  the  whole  kingdom 
rested  on  his  shoulders.  He  nevertheless  seems  to 
have  been  a  fair  student,  laying  the  fotindation 
for  that  knowledge  of  Greek  literature  and  the 
Latin  language,  and  that  fondness  for  books, 
which  afterward  struck  the  representatives  of  the 
foreign  powers  at  London.  In  161 7  his  father 
died,  and  he  left  Cambridge.  When  twenty-one 
years  old  he  was  married  in  London,  to  Elizabeth 
Bouchier  (who  was  one  year  older  than  he  was), 
the  daughter  of  a  rich  London  furrier.  She  was  a 
woman  of  gentle  and  amiable  character,  and 
though  she  does  not  appear  to  have  influenced 
Cromwell's  public  career  to  any  perceptible 
extent,  he  always  regarded  her  with  fond  affec- 
tion, and  was  always  faithful  to  her. 

For  twenty  years  after  his  marriage  he  lived  a 


4«  Oliver  Cromwell 

quiet  life,  busying  himself  with  the  management 
of  his  farm.  Nine  children  were  bom  to  him,  of 
whom  three  sons  and  five  daughters  lived  to 
maturity.  About  this  time  his  soul  was  first 
deeply  turned  toward  religious  matters,  and,  like 
the  great  majority  of  serious  thinkers  of  the  time, 
he  became  devoted  to  the  Puritan  theology; 
indeed  no  other  was  possible  to  a  representative 
of  the  prosperous,  independent,  and  religious 
middle-class,  from  which  all  the  greatest  Puritan 
leaders  sprang.  While  a  boy  Oliver  had  been 
sent  to  the  free  school  at  Htmtingdon,  and  his  first 
training  had  been  received  under  its  master,  the 
Reverend  Thomas  Beard,  a  zealous  Puritan  and 
Reformer,  as  well  as  a  man  of  wide  reading  and 
sotmd  scholarship,  and  lastly,  an  inflamed  hater 
of  the  Church  of  Rome.  All  his  surroundings,  all 
his  memories,  were  such  as  to  make  the  future 
Dictator  of  England  sincerely  feel  that  the  Church 
of  Rome  was  the  arch-antagonist  of  all,  temporal 
and  spiritual,  that  he  held  most  dear.  In  the  first 
place  his  ancestors  were  among  those  who  had 
profited  by  the  spoliation  of  the  monasteries ;  and 
the  only  way  to  avoid  uncomfortable  feelings  on 
the  part  of  the  spoiler  is  for  him  to  show — or  if 
this  is  not  possible,  to  convince  himself  that  he 
has  shown — ^the  utmost  iniquity  on  the  part  of  the 
despoiled.  When  Oliver  was  a  small  boy  the 
Gimpowder  Plot   shook  all  England.     When  he 


The  Times  and  the  Man  43 

was  a  little  older  Henry  of  Navarre  was  stabbed 
in  Paris ;  and  though  Henry  was  a  cynical  turn- 
coat in  matters  of  religion,  and  a  man  of  the  most 
revolting  licentiousness  in  private  life,  he  was  yet 
a  great  ruler  of  men,  and  had  been  one  of  the 
props  of  the  Protestant  cause.  Before  Oliver 
came  of  age  the  Thirty  Years'  War  had  begun 
its  course.  To  Oliver  Cromwell,  warfare  against 
the  Church  of  Rome,  broken  by  truces  which, 
whether  long  or  short,  were  intended  only  to  be 
breathing-spells,  must  have  seemed  the  normal 
state  of  things. 

In  1 63 1  Oliver  sold  his  paternal  estate  in 
Himtingdon  and  managed  a  rented  farm  at  St. 
Ives  for  five  years ;  then  he  removed  to  Ely,  in  the 
fen  country,  and  again  took  up  farming,  being 
joined  by  his  mother  and  sisters.  He  served  in 
the  great  Parliament  which  passed  the  Petition  of 
Right,  but  played  no  part  of  prominence  therein ; 
standing  stoutly,  however,  for  Puritanism  and 
ParHamentary  freedom.  During  the  ensuing 
eleven  years  of  unrest,  while  all  England  was 
making  ready  for  the  impending  conflict,  Oliver 
busied  himself  with  his  farm  and  his  family.  He 
showed  himself  one  of  the  strongest  bulwarks  of 
the  Puritan  preachers ;  zealous  in  the  endeavor  to 
further  the  cause  of  religion  in  every  way,  and 
always  open  to  appeals  from  the  poor  and 
the  oppressed,  of  whom  he  was  the  consistent 


44  Oliver  Cromwell 

champion.  When  certain  rich  men,  headed  by  the 
Earl  of  Bedford,  endeavored  to  oust  from  some 
of  their  rights  the  poor  people  of  the  fens,  Oliver 
headed  the  latter  in  their  resistance.  He  was 
keenly  interested  in  the  trial  of  his  kinsman,  John 
Hampden,  for  refusal  to  pay  the  Ship  Money;  a 
trial  which  was  managed  by  the  advocate  Oliver 
St.  John,  his  cousin  by  marriage. 

\In  short,  Cromwell  was  far  more  concerned  in 
righting  specific  cases  of  oppression  than  in  ad- 
vancing the  great  principles  of  constitutional  gov- 
ernment which  alone  make  possible  that  orderly 
liberty  which  is  the  bar  to  such  individual  acts 
of  wrong-doing.  From  the  standpoint  of  the  pri- 
vate man  this  is  a  distinctly  better  failing  than  is 
its  opposite ;  but  from  the  standpoint  of  the  states- 
man the  reverse  is  true.  Cromwell,  like  many  a 
so-called  "  practical "  man,  would  have  done  better 
work  had  he  followed  a  more  clearly  defined 
theory;  for  though  the  practical  man  is  better 
than  the  mere  theorist,  he  cannot  do  the  highest 
work  unless  he  is  a  theorist  also.  However,  all 
Cromwell's  close  associations  were  with  Hampden, 
St.  John,  and  the  other  leaders  in  the  movement 
for  political  freedom,  and  he  acted  at  first  in  entire 
accord  with  their  ideas:  while  with  the  religious 
side  of  their  agitation  he  was  in  most  hearty 
sympathy. 

It  is  difficult  for  us  nowadays  to  realize  how 


The  Times  and  the  Man  45 

natural  it  seemed  at  that  time  for  the  Word  of 
the  Lord  to  be  quoted  and  appealed  to  on  every 
occasion,  no  matter  how  trivial,  in  the  lives  of 
sincerely  religious  men.  It  is  very  possible  that 
quite  as  large  a  proportion  of  people  nowadays 
strive  to  shape  their  internal  lives  in  accordance 
with  the  Ten  Commandments  and  the  Golden 
Rule ;  indeed,  it  is  probable  that  the  proportion  is 
far  greater ;  but  professors  of  religion  then  carried 
their  religion  into  all  the  externals  of  their  lives. 
Cromwell  belonged  among  those  earnest  souls 
who  indulged  in  the  very  honorable  dream  of  a 
world  where  civil  government  and  social  life  alike 
should  be  based  upon  the  Commandments  set 
forth  in  the  Bible.  To  endeavor  to  shape  the 
whole  course  of  individual  existence  in  accord- 
ance with  the  hidden  or  half-indulged  law  of 
perfect  righteousness,  has  to  it  a  very  lofty  side; 
but  if  the  endeavor  is  extended  to  include  man- 
kind at  large,  it  has  also  a  very  dangerous  side:  so 
dangerous  indeed  that  in  practice  the  effort  is  apt 
to  result  in  harm,  imless  it  is  imdertaken  in  a 
spirit  of  the  broadest  charity  and  toleration ;  for 
the  more  sincere  the  men  who  make  it,  the  more 
certain  they  are  to  treat,  not  only  their  own  prin- 
ciples, but  their  own  passions,  prejudices,  vanities, 
and  jealousies,  as  representing  the  will,  not  of 
themselves,  but  of  Heaven.  The  constant  appeal 
to  the  Word  of  God  in  all  trivial  matters  is,  more- 


46  Oliver  Cromwell     ^ 

over,  apt  to  breed  hypocrisy  of  that  sanctimonious 
kind  which  is  pecuHarly  repellent,  and  which  in- 
variably invites  reaction  against  all  religious  feel- 
ing and  expression. 

At  that  day  Cromwell's  position  in  this  matter 
was,  at  its  worst,  merely  that  of  the  enormous 
majority  of  earnest  men  of  all  sects.  Each  sect 
believed  that  it  was  the  special  repository  of  the 
wisdom  and  virtue  of  the  Most  High:  and  the 
most  zealous  of  its  members  believed  it  to  be  their 
duty  to  the  Most  High  to  make  all  other  men 
worship  Him  according  to  what  they  conceived 
to  be  His  wishes.  This  was  the  medieval  atti- 
tude, and  represented  the  medieval  side  in  Puri- 
tanism ;  a  side  which  was  particularly  prominent 
at  the  time,  and  which,  so  far  as  it  existed,  marred 
the  splendor  of  Puritan  achievement.  The  noble- 
ness of  the  effort  to  bring  about  the  reign  of  God 
on  earth,  the  inspiration  that  such  an  effort  was  to 
those  engaged  in  it,  must  be  acknowledged  by 
all;  but,  in  practice,  we  must  remember  that,  as 
religious  obligation  was  then  commonly  construed, 
it  inevitably  led  to  the  Inquisition  in  Spain;  to 
the  sack  of  Drogheda  in  Ireland ;  to  the  merciless 
persecution  of  heretics  by  each  sect,  according  to 
its  power,  and  the  effort  to  stifle  freedom  of 
thought  and  stamp  out  freedom  of  action.  It  is 
right,  and  greatly  to  be  desired,  that  men  should 
come  together  to  search  after  the  truth :  to  try  to 


The  Times  and  the  Man  47 

find  out  the  true  will  of  God ;  but  in  Cromwell's 
time  they  were  only  beginning  to  see  that  each 
body  of  seekers  must  be  left  to  work  out  its  own 
beliefs  without  molestation,  so  long  as  it  does  not 
strive  to  interfere  with  the  beliefs  of  others. 

The  great  merit  of  Cromwell,  and  of  the  party 
of  the  Independents  which  he  headed,  and  which 
represented  what  was  best  in  Ptuitanism,  consists 
in  the  fact  that  he  and  they  did,  dimly,  but  with 
ever-growing  clearness,  perceive  this  principle, 
and,  with  many  baitings,  strove  to  act  up  to  it. 
The  Independent  or  Congregational  churches, 
which  worked  for  political  freedom,  and  held  that 
each  congregation  of  Protestants  should  decide 
for  itself  as  to  its  religious  doctrines,  stood  as  the 
forerunners  in  the  movement  that  has  culminated 
in  our  modem  political  and  religious  liberty.  How 
slow  the  acceptance  of  their  ideas  was,  how  the 
opposition  to  them  battled  on  to  the  present  cen- 
tury, will  be  appreciated  by  anyone  who  turns  to 
the  early  writings  of  Gladstone  when  he  was  the 
"rising  hope  of  those  stem  Tories,"  whose  special 
antipathy  he  afterward  became.  Even  yet  there 
are  advocates  of  religious  intolerance,  but  they  are 
mostly  of  the  academic  kind,  and  there  is  no 
chance  for  any  political  party  of  the  least  impor- 
tance to  try  to  put  their  doctrines  into  effect. 
More  and  more,  at  least  here  in  the  United  States, 
Catholics  and  Protestants,  Jews  and  Gentiles,  are 


48  Oliver  Cromwell 

learning  the  grandest  of  all  lessons — that  they  can 
best  serve  their  God  by  serving  their  fellow-men, 
and  best  serve  their  fellow-men,  not  by  wrangling 
among  themselves,  but  by  a  generous  rivalry  in 
working  for  righteousness  and  against  evil. 

This  knowledge  then  lay  in  the  future.  When 
Cromwell  grew  to  manhood  he  was  a  Puritan  of 
the  best  type,  of  the  type  of  Hampden  and  Milton ; 
sincere,  earnest,  resolute  to  do  good  as  he  saw  it, 
more  liberal  than  most  of  his  fellow-religionists, 
and  saved  from  their  worst  eccentricities  by  his 
hard  common-sense,  but  not  untouched  by  their 
gloom,  and  sharing  something  of  their  narrowness. 
Entering  Parliament  thus  equipped,  he  could  not 
fail  to  be  most  drawn  to  the  religious  side  of  the 
struggle.  He  soon  made  himself  prominent;  a 
harsh-featured,  red-faced,  powerfully-built  man, 
whose  dress  appeared  slovenly  in  the  eyes  of  the 
courtiers — ^who  was  no  orator,  but  whose  great 
power  soon  began  to  impress  friends  and  enemies 
alike. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    LONG  PARLIAMENT  AND   THE  CIVIL   WAR. 

KING  CHARLES'S  theory  was  that  ParHa- 
ment  had  met  to  grant  him  the  money 
he  needed.  The  Parliament's  conviction 
was  that  it  had  come  together  to  hold  the  King 
and  his  servants  to  accoimtability  for  what  they 
had  done,  and  to  provide  safeguards  against  a 
repetition  of  the  tyranny  of  the  last  eleven  years. 
Parliament  held  the  whip  hand,  for  the  King 
dared  not  dissolve  it  imtil  the  Scots  were  paid, 
lest  their  army  should  march  at  once  upon  London. 
The  King  had  many  courtiers  who  hated  popu- 
lar government,  but  he  had  only  one  great  and 
terrible  man  of  the  type  that  can  upbuild  tyran- 
nies; and,  with  the  sure  instinct  of  mortal  fear 
and  mortal  hate,  the  Commons  struck  at  the  min- 
ister whose  towering  genius  and  imscrupulous 
fearlessness  might  have  made  his  master  absolute 
on  the  throne.  A  week  after  the  Long  Parlia- 
ment met,  in  November,  1640,  Pym,  who  at  once 
took  the  lead  in  the  House,  moved  the  impeach- 
ment of  Strafford,  in  a  splendid  speech  which  set 
forth  the  principles  for  which  the  popular  party 
was  contending.  It  was  an  appeal  from  the  rule 
of  irresponsible  will  to  the  rule  of  law,  for  the  vio- 
4  49 


so  Oliver  Cromwell 

lation  of  which  every  man  could  be  held  account- 
able before  some  tribimal.  About  the  same  time 
Laud  was  thrown  into  the  Tower;  but  at  the 
moment  there  was  no  thought  of  taking  his  life, 
for  the  ecclesiastic  was  not — like  the  statesman — a 
mighty  and  fearsome  figure,  and  though  he  had 
done  as  much  evil  as  his  feeble  nature  permitted, 
he  had  im questionably  been  far  more  conscientious 
than  the  great  Earl.  Strafford  had  sinned  against 
the  light,  for  he  had  championed  liberty  imtil 
the  King  paid  him  his  price  and  made  him  the 
most  dangerous  foe  of  his  former  friends.  He 
now  defended  himself  with  haughty  firmness,  and 
the  King  strove  in  every  way  to  help  him.  But 
the  Commons  passed  a  Bill  of  Attainder  against 
him :  and  then  Charles  committed  an  act  of  fatal 
meanness  and  treachery.  There  was  not  one 
thing  that  Strafford  had  done,  save  by  his  sov- 
ereign's wish  and  in  his  sovereign's  interest.  By 
every  consideration  of  honor  and  expediency 
Charles  was  boimd  to  stand  by  him.  But  the 
Stuart  King  flinched.  Deeming  it  for  his  own 
interest  to  let  Strafford  be  sacrificed,  he  signed 
the  death-warrant.  ''Put  not  your  trust  in 
Princes,"  said  the  fallen  Earl  when  the  news  was 
brought  to  him,  and  he  went  to  the  scaffold 
imdaunted. 

Cromwell  showed  himself  to  be  a  man  of  mark 
in  this  Parliament;    but  he  was  not  among  the 


The  Long  Parliament  51 

very  foremost  leaders.  He  had  no  great  tinder- 
standing  of  constitutional  government,  no  full 
appreciation  of  the  vital  importance  of  the  reign 
of  law  to  the  proper  development  of  orderly 
liberty.  His  fervent  religious  ardor  made  all 
questions  affecting  faith  and  doctrine  close  to 
him ;  and  his  hatred  of  corruption  and  oppression 
inclined  him  to  take  the  lead  whenever  any  ques- 
tion arose  of  dealing,  either  with  the  wrongs  done 
by  Laud  in  the  course  of  his  religious  persecutions, 
or  with  the  irresponsible  tyranny  of  the  Star 
Chamber,  and  the  sufferings  of  its  victims.  The 
bent  of  Cromwell's  mind  was  thus  shown  right  in 
the  beginning  of  his  Parliamentary  career.  His 
desire  was  to  remedy  specific  evils.  He  was  too 
impatient  to  foimd  the  kind  of  legal  and  constitu- 
tional system  which  could  alone  prevent  the  recur- 
rence of  such  evils.  This  tendency,  thus  early 
shown,  explains,  at  least  in  part,  why  it  was  that 
later  he  deviated  from  the  path  trod  by  Hampden, 
and  afterward  by  Washington  and  Washington's 
colleagues:  showing  himself  unable  to  build  up 
free  government  or  to  estabHsh  the  reign  of  law, 
tmtil  he  was  finally  driven  to  substitute  his  own 
personal  government  for  the  personal  government 
of  the  King  whom  he  had  helped  to  dethrone, 
and  put  to  death.  Cromwell's  extreme  admirers 
treat  his  impatience  of  the  delays  and  short- 
comings of  ordinary  constitutional  and  legal  pro- 


52  Oliver  Cromwell 

ceedings  as  a  sign  of  his  greatness.  It  was  just 
the  reverse.  In  great  crises  it  may  be  necessary 
to  overturn  constitutions  and  disregard  statutes, 
just  as  it  may  be  necessary  to  establish  a  vigilance 
committee,  or  take  refuge  in  lynch  law ;  but  such  a 
remedy  is  always  dangerous,  even  when  absolutely 
necessary ;  and  the  moment  it  becomes  the  habit- 
ual remedy,  it  is  a  proof  that  society  is  going 
backward.  Of  this  retrogression  the  deeds  of  the 
strong  man  who  sets  himself  above  the  law  may 
be  partly  the  cause  and  partly  the  consequence; 
but  they  are  always  the  signs  of  decay. 

The  Commons  had  passed  a  law  authorizing 
the  election  of  a  Parliament  at  least  once  in  three 
years :  which  at  once  took  away  the  King's  power 
to  attempt  to  rule  without  a  Parliament ;  and  in 
May  they  extorted  from  the  King  an  act  that  they 
should  not  be  dissolved  without  their  own  con- 
sent. Ship  Money  was  declared  to  be  illegal;  the 
Star  Chamber  was  abolished;  and  Tonnage  and 
Poimdage  were  declared  illegal,  unless  levied  by 
Act  of  Parliament.  Then  the  Scotch  army  was 
paid  off  and  returned  across  the  Border.  The  best 
work  of  the  Commons  had  now  been  done,  and  if 
they  could  have  trusted  the  King  it  would  have 
been  well  for  them  to  dissolve;  but  the  King 
could  not  be  trusted,  and,  moreover,  the  religious 
question  was  pushed  to  the  front.  Laud's  actions 
— actions  taken  with  the  full  consent  and  by  the 


The  Long  Parliament  53 

advice  of  the  King — had  rendered  the  Episcopal 
form  of  Church  government  obnoxious.  The 
House  of  Commons  was  Presbyterian,  and  it 
speedily  became  evident  that  it  wished  to  estab- 
lish the  Presbyterian  system  of  Church  govern- 
ment in  the  place  of  Episcopacy;  and,  moreover, 
that  it  intended  to  be  just  as  intolerant  on  behalf 
of  Presb3rterianism  as  the  King  and  Laud  had 
been  on  behalf  of  Episcopacy.  There  was  a  strong 
moderate  party  which  the  King  might  have  rallied 
about  him,  but  his  incurable  bad  faith  made  it 
impossible  to  trust  his  protestations.  He  now 
made  terms  with  the  Scotch,  in  accordance  with 
which  they  agreed  not  to  interfere  between  him- 
self and  his  English  subjects  in  religious  matters. 
He  hoped  thereby  to  deprive  the  Presbyterian 
English  of  their  natural  allies  across  the  Border. 
This  conduct,  of  itself,  would  have  inflamed  the 
increasing  rehgious  bitterness;  but  it  was  raised 
to  madness  by  the  news  that  came  from  Ireland 
at  this  time. 

Inspired  by  the  news  of  the  revolt  in  Scotland 
and  the  troubles  in  England,  the  Irish  had  risen 
against  their  hereditary  oppressors.  It  was  the 
revolt  of  a  race  which  rose  to  avenge  wrongs  as 
bitter  as  ever  one  people  inflicted  upon  another; 
and  it  was  inevitable  that  it  should  be  accom- 
panied by  appalling  outrages  in  certain  places. 
It  was  on  these  outrages  that  the  English  fixed 


54  Oliver  Cromwell 

their  eyes,  naturally  ignoring  the  generations  of 
English  evil-doing  which  had  brought  them  about. 
A  furious  cry  for  revenge  arose.  Every  Puritan, 
from  Oliver  Cromwell  down,  regarded  the  mas- 
sacres as  a  fresh  proof  that  Roman  Catholics  ought 
to  be  treated,  not  as  professors  of  another  Chris- 
tian creed,  but  as  cruel  public  enemies ;  and  their 
burning  desire  for  vengeance  took  the  form,  not 
merely  of  hostility  to  Roman  Catholicism,  but  to 
the  Episcopacy,  which  they  regarded  as  in  the  last 
resort  an  ally  of  Catholicism. 

In  November,  1641,  the  Puritan  majority  in 
Parliament  passed  the  Grand  Remonstrance — 
which  was  a  long  indictment  of  Charles's  conduct. 
Cromwell  had  now  taken  his  place  as  among  the 
foremost  of  the  Root  and  Branch  Party,  who 
demanded  the  abolition  of  Episcopacy,  and  whose 
action  drove  all  those  who  believed  in  the  Episco- 
pal form  of  Church  government  into  the  party  of 
the  King.  He  threw  himself  with  eager  vehem- 
ence into  the  Party  of  the  Remonstrance,  and 
after  its  bill  was  passed  told  Falkland  that  if 
it  had  been  rejected  by  Parliament  he  would 
have  sold  all  he  had,  and  never  again  seen  Eng- 
land. 

For  a  moment  the  Puritan  violence,  which  cul- 
minated in  the  Grand  Remonstrance,  provoked  a 
reaction  in  favor  of  the  King;  but  the  King,  by 
another  act  of  violence,  brought  about  a  coimter- 


The  Long  Parliament  55 

reaction.  In  January,  1642,  he  entered  the 
House  of  Commons,  and  in  person  ordered  the 
seizure  and  imprisonment  in  the  Tower  of  the 
five  foremost  leaders  of  the  Puritan  party,  in- 
cluding Pym  and  Hampden.  Such  a  course  on 
his  part  could  be  treated  only  as  an  invitation 
to  civil  war.  London,  which  before  had  been 
wavering,  now  rallied  to  the  side  of  the  Commons ; 
the  King  left  Whitehall;  and  it  was  evident  to 
all  men  that  the  struggle  between  him  and  the 
Parliament  had  reached  a  point  where  it  would 
have  to  be  settled  by  the  appeal  to  arms. 

In  August,  1642,  King  Charles  planted  the 
royal  standard  on  the  Castle  of  Nottingham,  and 
the  Civil  War  began.  The  Parliamentary  forces 
were  led  by  the  Earl  of  Essex.  They  included 
some  twenty  regiments  of  infantry  and  seventy- 
five  troops  of  horse,  each  sixty  strong,  raised  and 
equipped  by  its  own  captain.  Oliver  Cromwell 
was  captain  of  the  Sixty-seventh  Troop,  and  his 
kinsfolk  and  close  friends  were  scattered  through 
the  cavalry  and  infantry.  His  sons  served  with 
or  imder  him.  One  brother-in-law  was  quarter- 
master of  his  own  troop ;  a  second  was  captain  of 
another  troop.  His  future  son-in-law,  Henry 
Ireton,  was  captain  of  yet  another;  a  cousin  and 
a  nephew  were  comets.  Another  cousin,  John 
Hampden,  was  colonel  of  a  regiment  of  foot;  so 
was  Cromwell's  close  friend  and  neighbor,  the 


56  Oliver  Cromwell 

after-time  Earl  of  Manchester,  who  was  much 
under  his  influence. 

It  was  nearly  a  hundred  years  since  England 
had  been  the  scene  of  serious  fighting,  and  Scot- 
land had  witnessed  nothing  more  than  brawls 
during  that  time.  Elizabeth's  war  with  Spain 
had  been  waged  upon  the  ocean.  However, 
thousands  of  English  and  Scotch  adventurers 
had  served  in  the  Netherlands  and  in  High 
Germany  under  the  Dutch  and  Swedish  generals. 
In  both  the  Royal  and  Parliamentary  armies 
there  was  a  sprinkling  of  men — especially  in  the 
upper  ranks  of  the  officers — who  had  had  prac- 
tical experience  of  war  on  a  large  scale.  The 
English  people  offered  exceptionally  fine  material 
for  soldiers;  the  population  was  still  overwhelm- 
ingly rural  and  agricultural.  In  the  cities  the 
hardy  mechanics  and  craftsmen  were  accustomed 
to  sports  in  which  physical  prowess  played  a 
great  part.  The  agricultural  classes  were  far 
above  the  peasant  serfs  of  Germany  and  France ; 
and  the  gentry  and  yeomanry  were  accustomed 
to  the  use  of  the  horse  and  the  fowling-piece,  and 
were  devoted  to  field-sports.  In  courage,  in 
hardihood,  in  intelligence,  the  level  was  high. 

Although  gunpowder  had  been  in  use  for  a 
couple  of  centuries,  progress  toward  the  modem 
arms  of  precision  had  been  so  slow  that  close- 
quarter  weapons  were  still,  on  the  whole,  superior ; 


The  Long  Parliament  57 

and  shock  tactics  rather  than  fire  tactics  were 
decisive.  Artillery,  though  used  on  the  field  of 
battle,  was  never  there  a  controlling  factor,  being 
of  chief  use  in  the  assault  of  fortified  places.  The 
musketeers  took  so  long  to  load  their  clumsy 
weapons  that  they  could  be  used  to  best  advan- 
tage only  when  protected,  and  they  played  a  less 
important  part  on  a  pitched  field  than  the  great 
bodies  of  pikemen  with  which  they  were  mingled. 
In  England  the  cavalry  had  completely  the  upper 
hand  of  the  infantry.  It  was  used,  not  merely 
to  finish  the  fight,  but  to  smash  unbroken  and 
unshaken  bodies  of  foot;  and  so  great  was  its 
value  in  the  open  field  that  every  effort  was  made 
by  the  commanders  on  both  sides  to  keep  it  at 
the  largest  possible  ratio  to  the  whole  army. 
Every  decisive  battle  of  the  Civil  War  was  made 
such  by  the  cavalry.  The  arrangement  of  the 
armies  was,  invariably,  with  the  infantry  in  the 
center,  the  pikemen  and  the  musketeers  ordinarily 
alternating  in  cltmips,  while  the  cavalry  was  on 
both  wings.  The  dragoons,  though  mounted, 
habitually  fought  on  foot  with  their  fire-pieces. 
Lancers  were  rarely  used.  The  heavy  cavalry 
were  clad  in  cuirasses,  and  armed  with  long, 
straight  swords  and  pistols.  The  light  csLvalry 
usually  wore  the  buff  coat,  sometimes  with  a 
breast-piece,  always  with  a  helmet ;  and  in  addi- 
tion to  their  sword  and  pistols,  carried  a  carbine. 


5«  Oliver  Cromwell 

Throughout  Europe,  at  this  time,  cavalry 
trusted  altogether  too  much  to  their  clumsy  fire- 
arms, save  when  handled  by  some  great  natural 
leader  of  horse ;  and,  in  consequence,  on  the  Con- 
tinent, the  infantry  had  won  the  upper  hand. 
But  it  happened  in  the  English  Civil  War  that 
the  only  great  leaders  developed  were  cavalrymen ; 
and  so  the  horse  retained  throughout  the  mastery 
over  the  foot ;  although,  as  each  arm  was  always 
pitted  against  the  same  arm  in  the  opposing  forces, 
the  struggle  frequently  wore  itself  out  before  the 
victorious  horse  and  victorious  foot,  if  they  be- 
longed to  different  parties,  could  fight  it  out 
between  them. 

The  Civil  War  opened  with  just  such  blunder- 
ing and  indecisive  fighting  as  marked  the  opening 
of  the  American  Civil  War  two  centuries  later. 
There  was  no  hard  and  fast  line,  whether  geo- 
graphically or  of  caste,  between  the  two  parties; 
in  every  portion  of  England,  and  in  every  rank 
of  society,  there  were  to  be  foimd  adherents  both 
of  the  King  and  of  the  Commons ;  but,  as  a  whole, 
the  east  and  south  of  England  were  for  the  Par- 
liament ;  the  north  and  west  were  Royalist.  The 
bulk  of  the  aristocracy  stood  for  the  King;  the 
bulk  of  the  lesser  gentry  and  yeomanry  were 
against  him.  The  revolutionary  movement — as 
in  America  in  1776 — received  its  main  strength 
from  the  lesser  gentry,  small  farmers,  tradesmen, 


The  Long  Parliament  59 

and  upper-class  mechanics  and  handicraftsmen. 
In  America  in  1776  there  was  no  proletariat.  So 
far  as  there  was  one  in  England  in  1642,  it  took 
no  interest  in  the  struggle.  The  peasantry,  the 
mass  of  the  agricultural  laborers,  were  inclined 
toward  the  King,  though  the  men  immediately- 
above  them  in  social  position,  who  represented 
the  lowest  rank  that  had  political  influence,  were 
the  other  way.  The  townsmen  were  generally 
for  the  Parliament. 

In  comparing  the  English  Civil  War  of  the 
seventeenth  century  with  the  American  Civil 
War  of  the  nineteenth,  there  are  some  curious 
points  of  similarity,  no  less  than  some  very  sharp 
contrasts.  During  the  two  centuries  there  had 
been  a  great  growth  in  esteem  for  fixity  of  prin- 
ciple. In  the  English  Civil  War  nothing  was 
more  common  than  for  a  man  to  change  sides, 
and  there  was  treachery  even  on  the  field  of  battle 
itself;  whereas,  in  the  American  Civil  War, 
though  many  of  the  leaders,  like  Lee  and  Thomas, 
were  in  great  doubt  as  to  the  proper  course  to 
follow,  yet  when  sides  had  once  been  taken,  there 
was  no  flinching  and  no  looking  back.  Moreover, 
there  was  far  greater  intensity  of  popular  feeling 
in  the  American  Civil  War ;  even  the  States  that 
were  divided  in  opinion  at  the  outset  held  no 
considerable  mass  of  population  which  did  not 
soon  throw  its  weight  on  one  side  or  the  other; 


6o  Oliver  Cromwell 

whereas,  in  the  English  Civil  War  there  were 
large  bodies  of  men  who  strove  to  avoid  declaring 
for  either  side.  At  the  very  end  of  the  contest, 
tens  of  thousands  of  persons,  mainly  peasants, 
organized  under  the  title  of  Clubmen,  with  the 
avowed  purpose  of  holding  the  scales  even 
between  the  two  sets  of  combatants,  and  of 
looking  out  for  their  own  interests.  The  Ameri- 
can Civil  War  was  fought  for  the  right  of  secession, 
and  efforts  were  made — in  Kentucky,  for  in- 
stance— ^to  establish  the  right  of  a  locality  to  be 
neutral.  The  "state  rights"  theory  reached  an 
almost  equal  development  in  some  of  the  English 
counties  during  the  Cromwellian  contest.  York- 
shire at  one  time  declared  for  neutrality.  The 
trained  bands  of  Cornwall,  when  the  Royalist 
forces  were  driven  back  within  their  borders, 
promptly  turned  out  and  drove  off  the  pursuing 
Parliamentarians,  but  refused  to  obey  orders  to 
leave  the  county  in  pursuit  of  their  foes,  and 
disbanded  to  their  own  homes.  Later,  they 
repeated  exactly  the  same  course  of  procedure. 
There  were  at  times  local  truces,  or  agreements 
as  to  the  conditions  of  the  contest  in  particular 
localities. 

On  both  sides  "associations"  were  formed, 
consisting  of  special  groups  of  counties  banded 
together  intimately  for  the  purposes  of  defense. 
The  most  important  of  these,  the  Eastern  Associa- 


The  Long  Parliament  6i 

tion,  included  Cromweirs  own  home,  taking  in 
all  of  the  middle  East.  This  region  was  through- 
out the  contest  the  backbone  of  resistance  to 
the  King.  Its  people  were  strongly  Puritan  in 
feeling,  and  it  was  they  who  gave  Cromwell  his 
strength:  for  they  gave  him  his  Ironsides;  and 
furnished  the  famous  New  Model  for  the  Parlia- 
mentary army  which  finished  the  war. 

At  the  outset  of  the  war  many  of  the  nobles 
raised  regiments  from  among  their  own  tenants, 
and  the  armies  were  of  picturesque  look,  each 
regiment  having  its  own  imiform.  The  Guards 
of  Lord  Essex  adopted  the  buff  leather  coat, 
which  afterward  became  the  imiform  of  the  whole 
Rotmdhead  army.  Hampden's  regiment  was  in 
green ;  the  London  trained  bands  in  bright  scarlet. 
Other  regiments  were  clad  in  blue  or  gray.  In 
the  CavaHer  army  there  were  foot-guards  in  white 
and  foot-guards  in  red;  and  among  their  horse, 
the  Life  Guards  of  the  King — composed  of  lords 
and  gentlemen  who  had  no  separate  commands — 
wore  plumed  casques  over  their  long  curled  locks, 
embroidered  lace  collars  over  their  glittering  cui- 
rasses, gay  scarfs,  gilded  sword-belts,  and  great- 
boots  of  soft  leather  doubled  down  below  the 
knee. 

The  history  of  the  English  Civil  War,  like  the 
history  of  the  American  Revolutionary  War  and 
the  American   Civil   War,   teaches  two   lessons. 


62  Oliver  Cromwell 

First,  it  shows  that  the  average  citizen  of  a  civil- 
ized community  requires  months  of  training 
before  he  can  be  turned  into  a  good  soldier,  and 
that  raw  levies — ^no  matter  how  patriotic — are, 
under  normal  conditions,  helpless  before  smaller 
armies  of  trained  and  veteran  troops,  and  cannot 
strike  a  finishing  blow  even  when  pitted  against 
troops  of  their  own  stamp.  In  the  second  place 
it  teaches  a  lesson,  which  at  first  sight  seems  con- 
tradictory of  the  first,  but  is  in  reality  not  in  the 
least  so ;  namely,  that  there  is  nothing  sacrosanct 
in  the  trade  of  the  soldier.  It  is  a  trade  which 
can  be  learned  without  special  difficulty  by  any 
man  who  is  brave  and  intelligent,  who  realizes 
the  necessity  of  obedience,  and  who  is  already 
gifted  with  physical  hardihood  and  is  accustomed 
to  the  use  of  the  horse  and  of  weapons,  to  endur- 
ing fatigue  and  exposure,  and  to  acting  on  his 
own  responsibility,  taking  care  of  himself  in  the 
open. 

Cromwell's  troops  were  not  regulars,  like  the 
professional  soldiers  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War; 
they  were  volimteers.  After  two  or  three  years* 
service  they  became  the  finest  troops  that  Europe 
could  then  show;  just  as  by  1864  the  volunteers 
of  Grant  and  Lee  had  reached  a  grade  of  per- 
fection which  made  them,  for  their  own  work, 
superior  to  any  other  of  the  armies  then  in  exist- 
ence. 


The  Long  Parliament  63 

Under  modem  conditions,  in  a  great  civilized 
state,  the  regular  army  is  composed  of  officers 
who  have  as  a  rule  been  carefully  trained  to  their 
work;  who  possess  remarkably  fine  physique, 
and  who  are  accustomed  to  the  command  of 
men  and  to  taking  the  lead  in  emergencies ;  and 
the  enlisted  men  have  likewise  been  picked  out 
with  great  care  as  to  their  bodily  development; 
have  been  drilled  imtil  they  handle  themselves, 
their  horses,  and  their  weapons  admirably,  can 
cook  for  themselves,  and  are  trained  to  the  en- 
durance of  hardship  and  exposure  under  the  con- 
ditions of  march  and  battle.  An  ordinary  volun- 
teer or  militia  regiment  from  an  ordinary  civilized 
commtmity,  on  the  other  hand,  no  matter  how 
enthusiastic  or  patriotic,  or  how  intelligent,  is 
officered  by  lawyers,  merchants,  business  men,  or 
their  sons,  and  contains  in  its  ranks  clerks,  me- 
chanics, or  farmers'  lads  of  varying  physique,  who 
have  to  be  laboriously  taught  how  to  shoot  and 
how  to  ride,  and,  above  all,  how  to  cook  and  to 
take  care  of  themselves  and  make  themselves 
comfortable  in  the  open,  especially  when  tired 
out  by  long  marches,  and  when  the  weather 
is  bad.  At  the  outset  such  a  regiment  is,  of 
course,  utterly  inferior  to  a  veteran  regular  regi- 
ment, but  after  it  has  been  in  active  service  in 
the  field  for  a  year  or  two,  so  that  its  weak  men 
have  been  weeded  out,  and  its  strong  men  have 


64  Oliver  Cromwell 

learned  their  duties — whicli  can  be  learned  far 
more  rapidly  in  time  of  war  than  in  time  of  peace — 
it  becomes  equal  to  any  regiment.  Moreover,  if 
a  regular  regiment  consists  of  raw  recruits  and 
is  officered  by  men  who  have  learned  their  profes- 
sion only  in  the  barracks  and  the  study  and  on 
the  parade  ground,  it  may  be  a  cause  of  very 
disagreeable  surprise  to  those  who  have  grown 
to  regard  the  word  "regular"  as  a  kind  of  fetish. 
Again,  a  volunteer  regiment  may  have  the  wis- 
dom to  select  officers  for  the  highest  positions  who 
know  how  to  handle  men,  who  have  seen  actual 
soldiering,  who  possess  natural  capacity  for  leader- 
ship, eagerness  to  learn,  and  the  good  sense  to 
know  their  own  shortcomings ;  and  the  rank  and 
file  may  be  men  of  adventurous  temper,  already 
skilful  riflemen,  and  of  great  bodily  hardihood, 
accustomed  to  exposure,  accustomed  to  cook — ■ 
that  is  to  say,  to  take  care  of  their  stomachs — to 
live  in  the  open,  to  endure  hardship  and  fatigue, 
and  to  take  advantage  of  cover  in  battle.  Such  a 
regiment,  especially  if  raised  on  the  frontier,  may, 
from  the  outset,  prove  itself  equal  to  or  better 
than  any  ordinary  regular  regiment — as  has 
recently  been  shown  by  our  troops  in  the  Philip- 
pines, by  the  Australians  and  Canadians  in  South 
Africa,  and,  above  all,  by  the  Boers ;  and  as  was 
shown  nearly  a  century  ago  by  Hofer's  Tyrolese 
and  Andrew  Jackson's  backwoodsmen.  Of  course, 


The  Long  Parliament  65 

no  good  traits  will  avail  in  the  least  if  men  are 
possessed  with  the  belief  that  they  cannot  be 
taught  anything,  if  they  are  not  eager  to  obey  and 
to  learn ;  or  if  they  do  not  possess  a  natural  fight- 
ing edge. 

So  it  is  with  the  men  high  in  command.  The 
careful  training  in  body  and  mind,  and  especially 
in  character,  gained  in  an  academy  like  West 
Point,  and  the  subsequent  experience  in  the  field, 
endow  the  regular  officer  with  such  advantages 
that,  in  any  but  a  long  war,  he  cannot  be  over- 
taken even  by  the  best  natural  fighter.  In  the 
American  Civil  War,  for  instance,  the  greatest 
leaders  were  all  West  Pointers.  Yet  even  there, 
by  the  end  of  the  contest  both  armies  had  pro- 
duced regimental,  brigade,  and  division  com- 
manders, who  though  originally  from  civil  life, 
had  learned  to  know  their  business  exactly  as 
well  as  the  best  regular  officers ;  and  there  was  at 
least  one  such  commander — Forrest — who,  in  his 
own  class,  was  unequaled.  If  in  a  war  the  regu- 
lar officers  prove  to  have  been  trained  merely  to 
the  pedantry  of  their  profession,  and  do  not  hap- 
pen to  number  men  of  exceptional  ability  in  their 
ranks,  then  sooner  or  later  the  men  who  are  bom 
soldiers  will  come  to  the  front,  even  though  they 
have  been  civilians  tmtil  late  in  life. 

None  of  the  men  on  the  Parliamentary  side 
who  had  received  their  training  in  the  Continental 
5 


66  Oliver  Cromwell 

armies  amounted  to  much.  On  the  Royalist  side 
the  only  professional  soldier  who  made  his  mark 
was  Rupert ;  and  Rupert,  after  a  year  or  two,  was 
decisively  beaten  by  Cromwell — a  great  natural 
military  genius,  who,  although  a  civilian  till  after 
forty,  showed  an  astonishing  aptitude  in  grasping 
the  essentials  of  his  new  profession.  His  only 
military  rival  in  the  war  was  Montrose,  who  was 
also  not  a  professional  soldier. 

In  September  King  Charles  had  gathered  a  force 
of  10,000  men  at  Nottingham,  while  Essex  was 
getting  together  a  larger  army  not  far  off,  at 
Northampton.  The  wealth  of  the  kingdom  was 
with  the  Parliament,  which  also  possessed  the 
arsenal,  the  fleet,  and  the  principal  ports.  On 
the  other  hand,  man  for  man,  the  King's  troops 
were  superior  to  the  Parliament's,  especially  in 
the  most  dreaded  arm  of  the  service,  the  horse. 
The  fervid  zealots  who,  like  John  Bunyan,  en- 
tered the  Parliamentary  army,  were  never  in  the 
majority,  and  needed  peculiar  training  to  bring 
out  their  remarkable  soldierly  quaHties.  The 
sober,  thrifty,  religious  middle  class — ^which  was 
the  backbone  of  the  Parliamentary  strength — had 
no  special  aptitude  for  military  service.  If  its 
members  could  once  be  put  in  the  army  and  kept 
there  a  sufficient  length  of  time,  their  qualities 
made  them  excellent  soldiers;  but,  as  a  whole, 
they  were  not  men  of  very  adventurous  temper, 


The  Long  Parliament  67 

and  had  had  no  such  training  in  arms,  or  in  the 
sports  akin  to  war,  as  inclined  them  to  rush  into 
the  army.  On  the  other  hand,  the  RoyaHst  nobles 
and  squires,  and  their  gamekeepers,  grooms,  and 
hard-riding  kinsmen,  with  their  taste  for  field- 
sports,  their  love  of  adventure,  and  their  high 
sense  of  warlike  honor,  made  splendid  material 
out  of  which  to  organize  an  army,  and  especially 
cavalry.  In  consequence,  for  the  first  half  of  the 
war  the  Royalist  cavalry  was  overwhelmingly 
superior  to  the  Parliamentary  cavalry,  composed 
as  it  was  of  men  bought  with  the  money  of  the 
bourgeoisie,  who  had  no  particular  heart  in  their 
work;  who  were  timid  horsemen  and  imskilled 
swordsmen.  The  difference  in  favor  of  the  Royal- 
ist horse  was  as  marked  as  the  superiority  of  the 
Confederate  horse  in  the  American  Civil  War, 
\mder  leaders  like  Stuart,  Morgan,  and  Basil  Duke; 
imtil  time  was  afforded,  in  the  one  case  for  the 
growth  of  Cromwell,  in  the  other  for  the  develop- 
ment of  leaders  Hke  Sheridan  and  Wilson. 

Cromwell  had  already  shown  himself  very  active, 
He  had  seized  the  magazine  of  the  Castle  of  Cam- 
bridge, and  secured  the  University  plate,  which 
was  being  sent  to  the  King.  He  had  raised  vol- 
unteers and  expended  money  freely  out  of  his 
own  scanty  means.  His  troop  of  horse  was,  from 
the  beginning,  utterly  different  from  most  of  the 
Parliamentary  cavalry;   it  was  composed  of  his 


68  Oliver  Cromwell 

own  neighbors,  yeomen  and  small  farmers,  hard, 
serious  men,  whose  grim  natures  were  thrilled  by 
the  intense  earnestness  of  their  leader,  and  whom 
he  steadily  drilled  into  good  horsemanship  and 
swordsmanship.  His  chaplains  always  played  an 
important  part;  one  of  them,  Hugh  Peters,  was 
a  man  of  mark,  who  joined  ability  to  high  char- 
acter. 

The  King's  cavalry  was  led  by  Prince  Rupert,  a 
dashing  swordsman  and  horseman,  a  bom  cavalry 
leader,  who,  though  only  twenty-three,  had 
already  learned  his  trade  in  the  wars  of  the  Con- 
tinent. Rupert  opened  the  real  fighting,  scatter- 
ing a  large  body  of  Parliamentary  horse  in  panic 
rout  when  he  struck  them  near  Powick,  on  the 
Severn. 

In  October  the  King  marched  on  London,  and 
at  Edgehill  met  the  army  of  Essex.  Each  side 
drew  up,  with  the  infantry  in  the  center,  the 
cavalry  on  the  flanks.  On  the  King's  side  there 
was  much  jealousy  among  the  different  generals, 
and  some  insubordination,  but  far  more  activity 
and  eagerness  for  fight  than  the  Parliamentary 
troops  displayed.  The  battle  was  fought  on  the 
afternoon  of  October  23,  and  the  Parliamentary 
army  was  demoralized  at  the  outset  by  the 
treacherous  desertion,  of  a  regiment  commanded 
by  a  man  most  inappropriately  named  Sir  Faithful 
Fortescue.     He  moved  out  of  the  ranks  and  joined 


The  Long  Parliament  69 

Rupert's  horse.  Rupert  charged  with  headlong 
impetuosity,  and  by  his  fury  and  decision  so  over- 
awed the  ParHamentary  horse  opposed  to  him 
that  they  did  not  wait  the  shock,  but  galloped 
wildly  off,  actually  dispersing  the  nearest  infantry 
regiments  of  their  own  side.  Rupert  then  showed 
the  characteristic  shortcoming  which  always  im- 
paired the  effect  of  his  daring  prowess.  He  never 
could  keep  his  men  in  hand  after  they  had  scat- 
tered the  foe;  he  never  kept  a  sufficient  reserve 
with  which  to  meet  a  counter-stroke.  None  but 
a  great  master  of  war  could  withstand  his  first 
shock ;  but  after  the  first  shock  he  was  no  longer 
dangerous.  At  Edgehill  his  horse  followed  the 
routed  left  wing  of  the  Parliamentarians  \mtil 
they  became  as  completely  scattered  as  their 
beaten  foes.  He  struck  the  Parliamentary  bag- 
gage-train, which  was  defended  by  Hampden 
with  a  couple  of  infantry  regiments,  and  his 
scattered  troopers  were  beaten  back  when  he 
attempted  to  take  it. 

Meanwhile,  the  Royalist  horse  of  the  left  wing 
had  fallen  with  the  same  headlong  fury  on  the 
Parliamentary  right,  but  had  only  struck  a  small 
portion  of  the  ParHamentary  cavalry.  These  they 
drove  in  rout  before  them,  themselves  following 
in  hot  pursuit.  The  result  was,  that  the  bulk 
of  the  Parliamentary  foot,  and  a  portion  of  the 
right  wing  of  the  Parliamentary  horse,  including 


70  Oliver  Cromwell 

Oliver  CromweH's  troop,  were  left  face  to  face 
with  the  RoyaHst  foot,  which  was  inferior  in 
numbers;  and  falling  on  it,  after  a  desperate 
struggle  they  got  the  upper  hand  and  forced  it 
back.  Rupert  at  last  began  to  gather  his  horse 
together  to  face  the  victorious  Roundhead  foot; 
and  as  night  fell,  the  two  armies  were  still  fronting 
each  other.  The  King  advanced  on  London  in 
November,  but  was  unable  to  force  his  way  into 
the  city,  and  fell  back. 

The  war  had  not  opened  well  for  the  Parlia- 
mentary side,  and  their  especial  weakness  was 
evidently  in  cavalry — ^the  arm  by  which  decisive 
battles  in  the  open  field  were  won.  Cromwell, 
with  imerring  eye,  saw  the  weakness  and  started 
to  remedy  it.  It  is  about  this  time  that  his 
famous  conversation  with  Hampden  took  place. 
Said  Cromwell:  "Your  troops  are  most  of  them 
old  decayed  serving-men  and  tapsters,  and  such 
kind  of  fellows ;  and  their  troops  are  gentlemen's 
sons,  younger  sons,  and  persons  of  quality ;  do  you 
think  that  the  spirits  of  such  base,  mean  fellows 
will  ever  be  able  to  encotinter  gentlemen  that 
have  honor  and  courage  and  resolution  in  them? 
.  .  .  You  must  get  men  of  a  spirit;  and  take  it 
not  ill  what  I  say — I  know  you  will  not — of  a 
spirit  that  is  likely  to  go  on  as  far  as  gentlemen 
will  go,  or  else  you  will  be  beaten  still.  ...  I 
raised  such  men  as  had  the  fear  of  God  before 


The  Long  Parliament  71 

them,  as  made  some  conscience  of  what  they  did, 
and  from  that  day  forward  they  were  never 
beaten." 

The  famous  Presbyterian  clergyman,  Baxter, 
who  was  by  no  means  friendly  to  Cromwell, 
described  his  special  care  to  get  religious  men  into 
his  troop;  men  of  greater  intelligence  than  com- 
mon soldiers,  who  enlisted,  not  for  the  money,  buij 
from  an  earnest  sense  of  public  duty.  Naturally, 
said  Baxter,  these  troopers  "having  more  than 
ordinary  wit  and  resolution  had  more  than  ordi- 
nary success." 

By  another  writer  of  the  time,  Cromwell's  horse 
are  described  as  "  freeholders  and  freeholders'  sons, 
who  upon  matter  of  conscience  engaged  in  this 
quarrel ;  and  thus  being  well-armed  within  by  the 
satisfaction  of  their  own  consciences,  and  without 
by  good  iron  arms,  they  would  as  one  man  stand 
firmly  and  charge  desperately. ' '  Cromwell  at  once 
distinguished  himself  among  his  contemporaries, 
alike  by  the  absolute  obedience  he  rendered  to 
his  superiors,  and  by  the  incessant,  imwearying 
activity  with  which  he  drilled  his  men  in  the  use 
of  their  weapons  and  horses.  He  was  speedily 
promoted  to  a  colonelcy.  In  a  news-letter  of  the 
time  his  regiment  was  described  as  composed  of 
"brave  men;  well  disciplined.  No  man  swears 
but  he  pays  his  twelvepence;  if  he  be  drunk  he 
is  set  in  the  stocks  or  worse;    if  one  calls  the 


72  Oliver  Cromwell 

other  Roundhead,  he  is  cashiered ;  insomuch  that 
the  counties  where  they  come  leap  for  joy  of  them, 
and  come  in  and  join  with  them.  How  happy 
were  it  if  all  the  forces  were  thus  disciplined!'* 
Cromwell  suppressed  all  plimdering  with  an  iron 
hand.  An  eminently  practical  man,  not  in  the? 
least  a  theoretical  democrat,  but  imbued  with 
that  essence  of  democracy  which  prompts  a  man 
to  recognize  his  fellows  for  what  they  really  are, 
without  regard  to  creed  or  caste,  it  speedily  be- 
came known  that  imder  him  anyone  would  have 
a  fair  show  according  to  his  merits.  He  realized 
to  the  full  that  the  quality  of  troops  was  of  vastly 
more  consequence  than  their  numbers ;  that  only 
the  best  men  can  be  made  the  best  soldiers ;  and 
these  best  men  themselves  will  make  but  poor 
soldiers  imless  they  have  good  training.  His 
troops  proved  what  iron  discipline,  joined  to  stem 
religious  enthusiasm,  could  accomplish;  just  as 
later  their  immense  superiority  to  the  forces  of  the 
Scotch  Covenanters  showed  that  religious  and 
patriotic  enthusiasm,  by  itself,  is  but  a  poor  sub- 
stitute for  training  and  discipline.  In  one  of  his 
letters  he  writes :  ''  I  beseech  you,  be  careful  what 
captains  of  horse  you  choose;  what  men  be 
moimted.  A  few  honest  men  are  better  than 
numbers.  Some  time  they  must  have  for  exer- 
cise. If  you  choose  godly,  honest  men  to  be 
captains  of  horse,  honest  men  will  follow  them, 


The  Long  Parliament  73 

and  they  will  be  careful  to  mount  such.  I  had 
rather  have  a  plain  russet-coated  captain  that 
knows  what  he  fights  for,  and  loves  what  he 
knows,  than  that  which  you  call  a  gentleman,  and 
is  nothing  else.  I  honor  a  gentleman  that  is  so 
indeed.  ...  It  may  be  it  provoked  some  spirit 
to  see  such  plain  men  made  captains  of  horse.  .  .  . 
Better  plain  men  than  none;  but  best  to  have 
men  patient  of  work,  faithful  and  conscientious 
in  employment." 

Ordinarily,  Cromwell  was  able  to  get  for  his 
leaders  men  who  were  gentlemen  in  the  technical 
sense  of  the  term,  but  again  and  again  there 
forged  to  the  front  imder  him  men  like  Pride, 
whose  natural  talents  had  to  supply  the  place  of 
birth  and  breeding.  He  writes  again:  "My 
troops  increase;  I  have  a  lovely  company;  you 
would  respect  them  did  you  know  them.  .  .  . 
They  are  honest,  sober  Christians;  they  expect 
to  be  used  as  men."  Again  he  writes,  when  his 
Presbyterian  colleagues  were  showing  a  tendency 
to  oppress  and  drive  out  of  the  army  men  whose 
rehgious  beliefs  did  not  square  with  theirs: 
"  Surely,  you  are  not  well-advised  thus  to  turn  off 
one  so  faithful  to  the  cause,  and  so  able  to  serve 
you  as  this  man  (a  certain  colonel).  Give  me 
leave  to  tell  you  I  cannot  be  of  your  judgment. 
If  a  man  notorious  for  wickedness,  for  oaths,  for 
drinking,  hath  as  great  a  share  in  your  affection 


74  Oliver  Cromwell 

as  one  who  fears  an  oath,  who  fears  to  sin.  .  .  . 
Ay,  but  the  man  is  an  'Anabaptist*!  Are  yoq 
sure  of  that?  Admit  he  be,  shall  that  render 
him  incapable  to  serve  the  public?  Sir,  the  state, 
in  choosing  men  to  serve  it,  takes  no  notice  of 
their  opinions:  if  they  be  willing  faithfully  to 
serve  it,  that  satisfies.  .  .  .  Take  heed  of  being 
sharp  or  too  easily  sharpened  by  others,  against 
those  to  whom  you  can  object  little,  but  that  they 
square  not  with  you  in  every  opinion  concerning 
matters  of  religion." 

In  these  sentences  lies  the  justification  of  gen- 
uine democracy,  of  genuine  religious  liberty,  and 
toleration  by  the  state  of  religious  differences. 
They  were  uttered  by  a  man  far  in  advance  of  the 
temper  of  his  age.  He  was  not  sufficiently  ad- 
vanced to  extend  his  toleration  to  Roman  Catho- 
lics, and  even  extending  it  as  far  as  he  did  he 
was  completely  out  of  touch  with  the  majority  of 
his  f ellow-cotintrymen ;  for  the  great  bulk — ^both 
Episcopalians  and  Presbyterians — were  bitterly 
hostile  to  the  toleration  of  even  inconsiderable 
differences  of  doctrine  and  ritual.  The  ideal  after 
which  Cromwell  strove,  though  lower  than  that  to 
which  we  of  a  more  fortimate  age  have  attained, 
was  yet  too  high  to  be  reached  in  his  day.  Never- 
theless, it  was  a  good  thing  to  have  the  standard 
set  up ;  and  once  the  mark  which  he  had  estab- 
lished was  reached,  it  was  certain  that  the  spirit 


The  Long  Parliament  75 

of  toleration  would  go  much  farther.  As  soon 
as  Baptists  and  Congregationalists,  no  less  than 
Episcopalians  and  Presbyterians,  were  tolerated 
by  the  state  for  the  reasons  he  gave,  it  was  sure  to 
become  impossible  to  refuse  toleration  to  Catho- 
lics and  Unitarians. 

We  must  honor  Cromwell  for  his  aspirations 
toward  the  ideal,  but  we  must  acknowledge  how 
far  short  of  reaching  it  he  fell.  At  this  very  time 
he  was  handling  without  gloves  the  Episcopalian 
clergy.  In  order  to  secure  the  assistance  of  the 
Scotch,  Parliament  had  determined  to  take  the 
Covenant,  which  made  the  state  religion  of  Eng- 
land the  same  form  of  lofty,  but  intolerant,  Pres- 
byterianism  that  obtained  in  Scotland.  Under 
the  decision  of  the  Government  the  ritual  of  the 
Church  of  England  was  forcibly  suppressed,  and 
there  was  no  Httle  harrying  of  Episcopal  clergy 
and  vandal  destruction  of  ancient  art  symbolism 
by  the  Puritan  zealots.  **  Leave  off  your  fooling 
and  come  down,  sir!"  said  Cromwell,  walking 
into  Ely  Cathedral,  where  the  clergyman  had 
persisted  in  the  choir  service;  and  there  was  no 
choice  but  to  obey. 

In  1643  Cromwell  forged  to  the  front  as  almost 
the  only  steadily  successful  Parliamentary  com- 
mander. To  marvelous  energy,  fervid  zeal,  great 
resourcefulness,  fertility  of  invention,  and  indi- 
vidual initiative,  he  added  the  imerring  insight 


76  Oliver  Cromwell 

of  the  bom  cavalry  leader.  He  soon  saw  that 
the  true  weapon  of  the  cavalryman  was  the  horse ; 
and,  discarding  the  carbines  with  which  his  troop 
had  first  been  armed,  he  taught  them  to  rely  upon 
the  shock  of  a  charging,  close-knit  mass  of  men 
and  horses  trained  to  move  rapidly  as  a  unit. 

He  was  ceaseless  in  his  efforts  to  get  his  men 
paid,  fed,  and  equipped.  Like  his  great  friend, 
Sir  Thomas  Fairfax,  though  he  stopped  all  plim- 
dering,  he  levied  heavy  fines  on  the  estates  of  the 
Royalists,  and  by  these  means,  and  by  assessments 
from  the  Association,  and  by  voltmtary  loans  and 
contributions,  he  was  able  to  keep  his  men  well 
equipped. 

There  was  no  comprehensive  strategy  in  the 
fighting  this  year ;  but  the  balance  of  the  isolated 
expeditions  imdertaken  inclined  in  favor  of  the 
King.  Cromwell  appears  clearly,  for  the  first 
time,  as  a  successful  military  leader  in  May,  near 
Grantham.  He  had  under  him  twelve  troops. 
The  Cavaliers  much  outnumbered  him.  Never- 
theless, when,  after  some  preliminary  firing  from 
the  dragoons  on  both  sides,  Cromwell  charged  at 
a  roimd  trot,  the  Cavaliers,  instead  of  meeting  the 
charge,  received  it  and  were  broken  and  routed. 
The  fight  was  of  great  value  as  being  the  first  in 
which  the  Parliamentary  horse  beat  a  superior 
number  of  Royalist  horse.  Cromwell  was  as  yet 
learning  his  trade.     On  this  occasion  he  hesitated 


The  Long  Parliament  77 

a  long  time  about  charging,  and  only  charged  at 
all  when  it  became  evident  that  his  opponents 
would  not ;  and  he  owed  his  victory  to  the  incom- 
petence of  the  RoyaHst  commander.  It  was  an 
invaluable  lesson  to  him. 

A  great  deal  of  scrambling,  confused,  and 
rather  pointless  warfare  followed.  Rupert  and 
Hampden  encoimtered  each  other,  and  Hampden 
was  defeated  and  killed.  Hampden's  great  col- 
league, Pym,  died  later  in  the  year,  just  after 
having  brought  about  the  league  with  Scotland — 
one  of  the  first-fruits  of  which  was  the  trial  and 
execution  of  Laud.  Presbyterianism  was  now 
dominant,  and  set  itself  to  enforce  everywhere 
the  rigid  rule  of  clerical  orthodoxy.  Against  this 
the  Independents  began  to  raise  their  voices ;  but 
the  real  force  which  was  to  gain  them  their  vic- 
tory over  both  RoyaHst  and  Presbyterian  was  as 
yet  hidden.  Cromwell's  Ironsides — as  they  were 
afterward  termed  when  Rupert  christened  Crom- 
well himself  by  that  name — the  regiments  which 
he  raised  and  drilled  after  his  own  manner  from 
the  Eastern  Association,  these  represented  the 
real  power  of  the  Independents,  and  these  were 
not  yet  recognized  as  the  heart  and  right  arm  of 
the  army. 

Cromwell  held  Nottingham,  where  the  Royal- 
ists attacked  him  and  he  beat  them  off.  He  took 
Burleigh   House,   which  was  held  by  a  strong 


78  Oliver  Cromwell 

Royalist  garrison;  then,  in  July,  1643,  he  ad- 
vanced to  rescue  the  Parliamentary  general,  Lord 
Willoughby,  who  was  besieged  at  Gainsborough 
by  a  division  of  Newcastle's  army.  About  a 
mile  and  a  half  out  of  town  he  met  the  cavalry 
of  Lord  Cavendish,  which  was  drawn  up  at  the 
top  of  a  hill.  To  attack  him  it  was  necessary  to 
advance  up  steep  slopes,  honeycombed  by  rabbit 
burrows ;  but  Cromwell's  squadrons  were  already 
remarkable  alike  for  flexibility  and  steadiness, 
and  their  leader  knew  both  how  to  prepare  his 
forces  and  how  to  take  daring  advantage  of  every 
opportunity  that  offered.  As  his  leading  troops 
struggled  to  the  top  of  the  hill  Cavendish's  horse- 
men advanced,  but  the  Cromwellian  troopers, 
closing  up,  charged  them  at  once.  There  was  a 
stiff  contest,  but  as  the  rest  of  the  Parliamentary 
troops  came  to  the  front,  the  Royalists  were  over- 
thrown and  driven  off  in  wild  rout.  Cavendish 
himself  brought  up  his  reserve  and  routed  a 
portion  of  the  Parliamentary  forces;  but  Crom- 
well had  neither  lost  his  head  nor  let  his  force 
get  out  of  hand.  He,  too,  had  a  reserve,  and 
with  this  he  charged  Cavendish  and  overthrew 
him,  Cavendish  himself  being  slain. 

This  feat  was  succeeded  by  another  quite  as 
notable.  After  relieving  the  town  and  giving 
Lord  Willoughby  powder  and  provisions,  Crom- 
well advanced  toward  some  Royalist  soldiers  who 


The  Long  Parliament  79 

still  remained  in  view,  about  a  mile  distant.  To 
his  astonishment,  these  proved  to  be  the  vanguard 
of  Newcastle's  whole  army,  and  there  was  nothing 
for  it  but  to  retreat.  Cromwell's  troops  were 
tired,  and  only  his  excellent  generalship  and  in- 
domitable courage  prevented  a  disastrous  rout. 
Both  the  Parliamentary  horse  and  foot  were  at 
first  shaken  by  the  advance  of  the  fresh  Royalist 
soldiery,  but  Cromwell  speedily  got  them  in  hand 
and  retired  by  divisions,  making  head  against  the 
enemy  alternately  with  one  body  of  horse  and  then 
with  another,  while  the  rest  of  the  troops  drew 
back  behind  the  shield  thus  afforded  them.  The 
alternating  squadrons  of  the  rear-guard  always 
made  head  against  the  enemy  and  checked  him, 
but  always  slipped  away  before  he  could  charge, 
and  thus  the  tired  army  was  brought  off  in 
safety. 

In  September  Cromwell  joined  Sir  Thomas 
Fairfax;  and  in  October  they  met  and  over- 
threw a  Royalist  force  at  Winceby,  the  Pinitan 
troopers  singing  a  psalm  as  they  advanced  to  the 
combat.  The  ntimbers  seem  to  have  been  about 
equal,  perhaps  3,000  a  side.  The  battle  began 
with  a  skirmish  between  the  dragoons  of  the  two 
forces.  It  was  decided  by  the  tremendous  charge 
of  Cromwell's  steel-clad  troopers.  The  charge 
was  made  at  the  trot,  Cromwell  leading  his  men. 
Hie  Royal  dragoons  fired  upon  them  as  they  came 


8o  Oliver  Cromwell 

on,  Cromwell's  horse  was  killed,  and  a  Cavalier 
knocked  him  down  as  he  rose,  but  was  himself 
killed  by  a  Puritan  trooper.  Cromwell  sprang  to 
his  feet,  flung  himself  on  a  fresh  horse,  and  again 
joined  in  the  fight.  His  troops  were  heavy  cavalry, 
cuirassiers,  and  the  opposing  Royalists,  with  only 
buff  coats,  were  overthrown  by  the  shock  of  his 
advance.  Fairfax  charged  in  flank,  and  the  rout 
was  complete.  The  Royalist  leaders  chronicled 
with  astonishment  the  fact  that  the  Parliamentary 
horse  showed  great  superiority — that  they  were 
"very  good  and  extraordinarily  armed."  Appar- 
ently the  victory  was  owing  to  the  excellent  drill- 
ing of  Cromwell's  troops,  which  enabled  them  to 
charge  knee  to  knee;  and  when  thus  charging, 
the  weight  of  the  horses  and  of  the  iron-clad  men 
made  them  irresistible. 

In  1644  the  war  at  first  dragged  on  as  a  series 
of  isolated  expeditions  and  fights  in  which  neither 
side  was  able  to  score  any  decided  advantage. 
Rupert  performed  two  or  three  brilliant  feats ;  the 
Scotch  crossed  the  border  to  aid  the  Parliamen- 
tarians; and  Charles  tried  to  come  to  some  un- 
derstanding with  the  Irish,  by  which  they  would, 
if  possible,  furnish  him  troops,  and  if  not,  would 
at  least  free  the  English  troops  in  Ireland.  Some 
of  the  latter  he  did  bring  over.  After  one  or  two 
successes  a  body  of  them  were  captured  and  many 
subscribed  to  the  Covenant.     The  most  noted 


The  Long  Parliament  8i 

man  who  thus  changed  sides  was  the  aitertime 
general,  George  Monk. 

Cromwell  was  looming  up  steadily;  not  only 
for  the  discipline  of  his  men,  but  for  the  vigilant 
way  in  which  he  kept  touch  with  the  enemy  and 
gained  information  about  them,  making  the  best 
possible  use  of  pickets,  outposts,  and  scouting 
parties;  all,  by  the  way,  being,  as  was  usual  in 
those  times,  under  the  headship  of  an  officer 
known  as  the  Scout-master — a  far  better  term 
than  the  ciunbrous  modem  "Chief  of  the  Bureau 
of  Intelligence."  Of  course  Cromwell's  growing 
military  reputation  added  greatly  to  his  weight  in 
Parliament,  of  which,  like  most  of  the  leading 
generals,  he  was  still  a  member.  His  first  feat 
during  this  year  showed  how  Httle  the  duties  of 
the  soldier  and  the  statesman  were  as  yet  differ- 
entiated. 

Early  in  January  he  appeared  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  charged  Lord  Willoughby  with  mis- 
conduct, and  brought  about  his  removal  and  the 
naming  of  Manchester  to  the  sole  command  in 
the  seven  associated  cotmties.  Manchester  was 
little  more  than  a  figure-head.  He  made  Crom- 
well his  lieutenant-general  and  yielded  in  all 
things  to  him,  imtil  he  was  alienated  by  falling 
under  the  control  of  the  Scotch  Covenanters,  who 
already  hated  Cromwell  as  a  representative  of  the 
"sectaries"  whom  they  persecuted.  The  House 
6 


82  Oliver  Cromwell 

of  Commons  appointed  a  Committee  of  Both  King- 
doms to  assume  the  supreme  executive  authority 
for  the  conduct  of  the  war.  Cromwell  was  made 
a  member  of  this  Committee,  and  was  also  the 
ruling  member  of  the  Committee  of  the  Eastern 
Association,  which  furnished  the  zealously  Puritan 
force  that  was  already  the  mainspring  of  the  Par- 
liamentary army. 

In  Jime  the  Scotch,  imder  the  Earl  of  Leven, 
and  the  English,  tmder  Lord  Fairfax  and  Lord 
Manchester,  were  besieging  York,  which  was  de- 
fended by  Lord  Newcastle.  Toward  the  very 
last  of  the  month  Rupert  marched  rapidly  to  its 
relief.  The  three  Parliamentary  generals  fell  back 
instead  of  falling  on  him  as  he  advanced.  New- 
castle wished  to  leave  them  alone,  but  Rupert  in- 
sisted upon  following  and  attacking  the  Parlia- 
mentary armies.  He  and  Newcastle  had  about 
20,000  men.  The  Parliamentarians  probably  num- 
bered some  25,000;  but  throughout  this  war  it 
is  impossible  to  give  either  the  numbers  or  the 
losses  with  accuracy. 

On  July  2  Rupert  overtook  the  end  of  the  Par- 
liamentary column,  which  was  saved  from  disaster 
only  by  the  fortimate  fact  that  the  horse  of  Crom- 
well and  Sir  Thomas  Fairfax  formed  the  rear- 
guard. The  two  latter  sent  on  word  of  Rupert's 
advance,  warning  the  Parliamentary  generals  that 
they  could  not  now  avoid  a  fight ;  and  promptly 


The  Long  Parliament  83 

the  Scotch  and  English  troops  were  turned  to  face 
their  Royalist  foes  on  Marston  Moor. 

A  ditch  stretched  across  the  moor,  and  the 
armies  drew  up  with  this  extending  for  most  of  its 
length  between  them.  Each  side  was  marshaled 
in  the  usual  order — infantry  in  the  center,  cavalry 
on  the  flanks.  The  horse  of  the  Parliamentary 
right  wing  was  commanded  by  Sir  Thomas  Fair- 
fax, who  had  imder  him  his  own  English  cavalry 
and  three  Scottish  regiments.  The  right  wing  of 
the  foot  was  commanded  by  Lord  Fairfax,  and 
consisted  of  the  Yorkshire  troops  and  two  bri- 
gades of  Scots.  The  center,  with  its  reserve,  con- 
sisted of  Scotch  troops ;  the  left,  of  the  infantry  of 
the  Eastern  Association.  Leven  was  with  the 
infantry  of  the  center;  Manchester  on  his  left. 
The  horse  of  the  left  wing  were  imder  Cromwell, 
his  Ironsides  occupying  the  front  line  with  three 
Scotch  regiments  in  reserve. 

In  the  Royalist  army  the  horse  on  the  left  wing 
were  imder  Goring;  the  infantry  in  the  center 
were  imder  Newcastle,  and  Rupert  himself  led 
the  horse  of  the  right  wing.  At  last  the  two  great 
cavalry  leaders  of  the  war — Rupert  and  Crom- 
well— were  to  meet  face  to  face.  The  war  had 
lasted  nearly  two  years.  The  best  troops,  tmder 
the  best  leaders,  had  reached  very  nearly  their 
limit  of  perfectibility ;  they  were  veterans,  soldiers 
in  every  sense. 


84  Oliver  Cromwell 

Hour  after  hour  passed  while  the  armies  stood 
motionless,  the  leaders  on  either  side  anxiously 
scanning  the  enemy,  seeking  to  find  a  weak  point 
at  which  to  strike.  Evening  drew  on  and  no 
move  was  made.  The  Royalist  leaders  made  up 
their  mind  that  the  battle  would  not  be  fought 
that  day.  Suddenly,  at  seven  o'clock,  the  whole 
Parliamentary  army  moved  forward,  the  Puritan 
troopers  chanting  a  psalm,  according  to  their  wont. 

On  the  right,  Fairfax's  troopers,  as  they  ad- 
vanced, were  thrown  into  disorder.  Goring 
charged  them  furiously,  drove  them  back  on  the 
reserve  of  Scotch  cavalry,  and  overthrew  them  all. 
The  rout  was  hopeless,  and  the  flying  horsemen 
carried  away  the  Yorkshire  foot  with  them.  Sir 
Thomas  kept  the  ground,  with  a  few  of  his  troop- 
ers and  a  large  number  of  Lord  Balgony's  Scotch 
Lancers  and  the  Earl  of  Eglinton's  Scotch  Cuiras- 
siers. The  fugitives  were  followed  in  hot  pursuit 
by  Goring,  but  part  of  his  horse  were  kept  in  hand 
by  their  commander.  Sir  Charles  Lucas,  who, 
wheeling  to  the  right,  charged  the  flank  of  the 
Scotch  foot,  who  had  formed  the  Parliamentary 
center,  and  who  had  now  crossed  the  ditch  and 
were  attacking  the  Royalists  in  front.  The  Scotch 
fought  with  stubborn  valor,  repulsing  Lucas  again 
and  again,  but  suffering  so  heavily  themselves  that 
it  became  evident  that  they  could  not  long  stand, 
the  combined  front  and  flank  attack. 


The  Long  Parliament  85 

While  disaster  had  thus  overtaken  the  Parlia- 
mentary right,  on  the  left  Cromwell  had  com- 
pletely the  upper  hand.  His  steel-clad  troopers 
crashed  into  Rupert's  horsemen  at  full  speed.  The 
fight  was  equal  for  some  time,  neither  stubborn 
Roundhead  nor  gallant  Cavalier  being  able  to 
wrest  the  mastery  from  the  other.  But  Rupert, 
who  always  depended  upon  one  smashing  blow, 
and  put  his  main  force  into  his  front  line,  did  not, 
like  Cromwell,  tmderstand  how  best  to  use  a  re- 
serve. Cromwell's  reserve — the  Scotch  cavalry — 
came  up  and  charged  home,  and  the  Royalist 
horse  were  overthrown  with  the  shock.  "God 
made  them  as  stubble  to  our  swords,"  said  Crom- 
well. 

Sending  his  leading  troops  in  pursuit,  to  pre- 
vent the  enemy  from  rallying,  Cromwell  instantly 
gathered  the  bulk  of  his  horse  and  fell  on  the 
right  wing  of  the  Royalist  foot — already  hard 
pressed  by  the  foot  of  the  Eastern  Association. 
The  King's  men  fought  with  dogged  courage,  most 
conspicuous  among  them  being  Newcastle's  own 
Northumbrian  regiment,  the  famous  Whitecoats, 
who  literally  died  as  they  stood  in  the  ranks. 

Sweeping  down  the  line  the  Ironsides  smashed 
one  regiment  after  another,  until,  in  the  fading 
summer  evening,  Cromwell  had  almost  circled  the 
Royalist  army,  and  came  to  their  left  wing,  where 
he  saw  the  Royalist  horse  charging  the  right  flank 


86  Oliver  Cromwell 

of  the  Scots  and  harrying  the  routed  Yorkshire 
foot.  Immediately  he  reformed  his  thoroughly 
trained  squadrons  almost  on  the  same  grotmd 
where  Goring's  horse  stood  at  the  beginning  of 
the  battle,  and  fronting  the  same  way.  The  foot 
of  the  Association  formed  beside  them,  and  just 
before  nightfall  the  Puritan  cavalry  and  infantry 
made  their  final  charge.  Goring's  troopers  were 
returning  from  their  pursuit;  Lucas's  men  were 
recoiling  from  their  last  charge,  in  which  Lucas 
himself  had  been  captured.  They  were  scattered 
like  chaff  by  the  shock  of  the  steel-clad  Crom- 
wellian  troopers,  riding  boot  to  boot;  and  the 
remaining  Royalist  foot  shared  the  same  fate. 
The  battle  was  over  just  as  night  fell,  stopping  all 
pursuit.  But  there  was  little  need  of  pursuit.  As 
at  Waterloo,  the  very  obstinacy  with  which  the 
fight  had  been  waged  made  the  overthrow  all  the 
more  complete  when  at  last  it  came.  Night  went 
down  on  a  scene  of  wild  confusion,  with  thousands 
of  fugitives  from  both  armies  streaming  off  the  field 
through  the  darkness ;  for  the  disaster  to  the  right 
wing  of  the  Parliamentary  army  had  resulted  not 
only  in  the  rout  of  all  the  Yorkshire  men  and  half 
of  the  Scotch,  but  also  in  the  three  Parliamentary 
commanding  generals,  Leven,  Manchester,  and 
Lord  Fairfax,  being  swept  off  in  the  mass  of  fugi- 
tives. The  fight  had  been  won  by  Cromwell,  not 
only  by  the  valor,   coolness,  keen  insight,  and 


The  Long  Parliament  87 

power  of  control  over  his  men,  which  he  had 
showed  in  the  battle  itself,  but  by  the  two  years 
of  careful  preparation  and  drill  which  had  tem- 
pered the  splendid  weapons  he  used  so  well. 

This  was  the  first  great  victory  of  the  war ;  but 
it  produced  no  decisive  effect;  for  there  was  no 
one  general  to  take  advantage  of  it.  York 
fell;  but  little  else  resulted  from  the  trivunph. 
Fairfax,  Manchester,  and  Leven  all  separated  to 
pursue  various  tmimportant  objects.  They  left 
Rupert  time  to  recruit  his  shattered  forces.  They 
did  not  march  south  to  help  Essex,  who  was  op- 
posed to  the  King  in  person.  Essex  blimdered 
badly,  and  when  he  marched  into  Cornwall  was 
out-maneuvered  and  surroimded,  and  finally  had 
to  surrender  all  his  infantry.  Before  this  the  King 
had  already  beaten  the  Parliamentary  general. 
Waller,  at  Copredy  Bridge,  the  defeat  of  the  Par- 
liamentarians being  turned  into  disaster  by  the 
conduct  of  the  London  trained-bands,  who,  after 
two  years  of  battle,  were  still  mere  militia,  insub- 
ordinate and  prone  to  desert.  It  was  not  with 
such  stuff  that  victory  over  the  Royalists  could  be 
obtained.  Mere  militia  who  will  not  submit  to 
rigid  discipline  cannot  be  made  the  equals  of  regu- 
lars by  no  matter  how  many  years  of  desultory 
fighting.  In  the  War  of  the  American  Revolution 
it  was  the  Continentals — the  regulars  of  Washing- 
ton, Wayne,   and   Greene — who  finally  won  the 


88  Oliver  Cromwell 

victory,  while  even  to  the  very  end  of  the  struggle 
the  ordinary  militia  proved  utterly  unable  to  face 
the  redcoats.  So  in  the  English  Civil  War,  it  was 
the  carefully  drilled  and  trained  horse  and  foot  of 
the  Eastern  Association,  and  not  the  disorderly 
London  trained-bands,  who  overthrew  the  King's 
men.  Cromwell  had  developed  his  troops  just 
as  Grant  and  Lee,  Sherman  and  Johnston  long 
afterward  developed  theirs.  It  is  only  imder 
exceptional  conditions,  and  with  wholly  excep- 
tional populations,  that  it  is  possible  to  forego 
such  careful  drilling  and  training. 

One  great  reason  for  the  failures  of  the  Par- 
liamentary forces  was  that  their  leading  generals 
no  longer  greatly  cared  for  success.  They  were 
Presbyterians,  who  believed  in  the  Parliament, 
but  who  also  believed  in  the  throne.  They  hated 
the  Independents  quite  as  much  as  they  hated  the 
Episcopalians,  and  felt  a  growing  distrust  of  Crom- 
well, who  in  religious  matters  was  the  leader  of  the 
Independents,  and  who  had  announced  that  if  he 
met  the  King  in  battle  he  would  kill  him  as  quickly 
as  he  would  kill  anyone  else.  Essex  was  no  more 
capable  of  putting  a  finish  to  the  war  than  Mc- 
Clellan  was  capable  of  overthrowing  the  Confed- 
eracy. The  one,  like  the  other,  had  to  make  room 
for  sterner  and  more  resolute  men. 

The  Committee  of  Both  Kingdoms  struggled 
in  vain  to  get  their  generals  to  accomplish  some- 


The  Long  Parliament  89 

thing.  At  Newbury — where  one  indecisive  battle 
had  already  been  fought — they  got  together  an 
army  nearly  double  the  strength  of  the  King's: 
with  no  result  save  that  another  indecisive  battle 
was  fought,  on  October  29,  1644.  It  was  evident 
that  there  had  to  be  a  complete  change  in  the 
management  of  the  war  if  a  victory  was  to  be 
achieved.  Accordingly  Cromwell  once  more  turned 
from  the  field  to  the  House  of  Commons. 

In  November  he  rose  in  Parliament  and  de- 
nounced Manchester  as  utterly  inefficient;  and 
then  turned  his  onslaught  from  an  attack  on  one 
man  into  a  general  move  against  all  the  hitherto 
leaders  of  the  army.  On  December  9  he  ad- 
dressed the  House  in  one  of  his  characteristic 
speeches,  rugged  in  form,  but  instinct  with  the 
man's  eager,  strong  personality,  fiery  earnestness 
and  hard  common  sense.  He  pointed  out,  not 
all  the  truth — ^for  that  was  not  politic — but  the 
evident  truth  that  it  was  not  wise  to  have  leaders 
who  both  served  in  Parliament  and  also  com- 
manded in  the  army.  The  result  was  the  passage 
of  the  Self-denying  Ordinance,  by  which  all  mem- 
bers of  either  of  the  houses  were  required  to  resign 
their  commands ;  so  that,  at  a  stroke,  the  Presby- 
terian and  Parliamentary  leaders  were  removed 
from  their  control  of  the  forces.  Two  months 
afterward  it  was  decreed  that  the  forces  of  the 
Commonwealth  should  be  reorganized  on  the  "New 


90  Oliver  Cromwell 

Model."  For  the  short-time  service  and  militia 
levy  system  there  was  substituted  the  New  Model ; 
that  is,  the  plan  under  which  in  the  Eastern  Asso- 
ciation the  Ironsides  had  been  raised  to  such  a 
pitch  of  efficiency  was  extended  to  include  the 
whole  army.  Sir  Thomas  Fairfax  was  put  in 
command,  but  so  evident  was  it  to  everyone  that 
Cromwell  was  the  real  master-mind  of  the  Parlia- 
mentary armies  that  the  Self-denying  Ordinance 
was  not  enforced  as  far  as  he  was  concerned,  and 
he  was  retained,  nominally  as  second,  but  in  reality 
as  chief,  in  command.  This  was  not  only  a  vic- 
tory for  the  radical  military  party,  but  a  victory 
for  the  Independents  over  the  Presbyterians.  The 
Independent  strength  was  in  the  army,  and  they 
now  had  their  own  leaders. 

During  the  period  of  reorganization  of  the  army 
the  war  lagged  along  in  its  usual  fashion,  with 
Rupert  as  much  to  the  fore  as  ever;  and  to  the 
Royalists  it  merely  seemed  that  their  adversaries 
had  gotten  at  odds,  and  that  the  great  noblemen, 
the  experienced  leaders,  had  been  driven  from 
their  leadership.  Their  hopes  were  high,  espe- 
cially as  in  Scotland  affairs  had  taken  a  sudden  and 
most  ttnexpected  turn  in  their  favor.  Immedi- 
ately after  Marston  Moor,  Montrose  had  begun  his 
wonderful  year  of  crowded  life.  Recognizing  the 
extraordinary  military  qualities  of  the  Celtic  clans- 
men of  the  Highlands,  he  had  stirred  them  to 


The  Long  Parliament  91 

revolt,  and  had  proved  himself  a  master  of  war  by 
a  succession  of  startling  victories  which  finally  put 
almost  all  Scotland  at  his  feet.  One  would  have 
to  examine  the  campaigns  of  Forrest  to  find  any 
parallel  for  what  he  did.  Because  of  his  feats  he 
has  been  compared  to  Cromwell,  but  his  fights 
were  on  so  much  smaller  a  scale  that  the  compari- 
son is  no  more  possible  than  it  would  be  possible  to 
compare  Forrest  with  Grant  or  Lee. 

It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  the  two  soldier 
types  which  emerged  from  the  English  Civil  War 
as  victorious  over  all  others  were  the  Cromwellian 
Ironside  and  the  Scotch  Highlander.  The  intense 
religious  and  patriotic  fervor  and  hard  common 
sense  of  the  one  was  in  the  other  supplanted  by  a 
mere  wild  love  of  fighting  for  fighting's  sake.  It 
may  be  questioned  which  was  most  formidable  in 
battle,  but  in  a  campaign  there  was  no  comparison 
whatsoever  between  them ;  and  once  his  other  foes 
were  vanquished,  the  Cromwellian  soldier  had  not 
the  slightest  difficulty  in  holding  down  the  High- 
lander. 

The  victories  of  Montrose,  the  feats  of  Rupert, 
and  the  failures  of  the  Parliamentarians  since 
Marston  Moor  gave  Charles  every  feeling  of  con- 
fidence, when,  on  Jtine  14,  1645,  he  led  his  army 
against  the  New  Model  at  Naseby.  As  usual 
in  these  battles,  it  is  not  possible  to  state  the 
exact  numbers,  but  it  would  appear  that,  as  at 


92  Oliver  Cromwell 

Marston  Moor,  the  Royalist  troops  were  out- 
numbered, being  about  10,000  as  against  14,000 
in  the  Parliamentary  army.  Fairfax  commanded 
for  the  Parliament,  and  the  King  was  present  in 
person.  As  usual,  the  infantry  on  each  side  was 
in  the  center.  On  the  right  wing  of  the  Parlia- 
mentarians Cromwell  led  his  horse,  while  Ireton 
had  the  horse  of  the  left.  Rupert  commanded 
the  cavalry  on  the  right  wing  of  the  Royalists, 
and  Sir  Marmaduke  Langdale  that  of  the  left. 
Thus  Rupert  was  not,  as  at  Marston  Moor,  pitted 
against  Cromwell;  and  anyone  except  Cromwell 
he  could  beat.  Ireton  was  a  stout  soldier,  but  he 
and  his  cavalry  were  completely  overthrown ; 
then,  according  to  their  usual  custom,  Rupert's 
Cavaliers  followed  the  headlong  flight  of  their 
opponents  in  an  equally  headlong  pursuit. 
Meanwhile,  in  the  center,  the  foot  crashed  to- 
gether and  fought  with  savage  obstinacy  on  equal 
terms.  As  at  Marston  Moor,  the  fight  was  de- 
cided solely  by  Cromwell.  He  overthrew  the 
Royalist  horse  as  he  always  overthrew  them,  and 
he  kept  his  men  in  hand  as  he  always  kept  them. 
Leaving  a  sufficient  force  to  watch  the  broken 
hostile  squadrons,  he  wheeled  the  remainder  and 
fell  on  the  Royalist  infantry  in  flank  and  rear. 
For  a  moment.  King  Charles,  stirred  by  a  noble 
impulse,  led  forward  his  horse  guards  to  do  or 
die;  but  the  Earl  of  Camworth  seized  his  bridle 


The  Long  Parliament  93 

and  stopped  him,  saying:  ''Will  you  go  upon 
your  death?"  Had  the  King  been  indeed  a 
king,  as  ready  to  stake  his  own  life  for  his  king- 
dom as  he  was  to  stake  the  lives  of  others,  it 
would  have  gone  hard  with  the  man  who  sought 
to  halt  him,  for  in  such  a  case  no  man  is  stopped 
by  another  imless  he  himself  is  more  than  willing ; 
but  Charles  faltered,  the  moment  passed,  and  his 
army  was  overthrown  in  wild  ruin.  Rupert  came 
back  and  re-formed  his  men,  but  when  Cromwell 
charged  home  with  horse  and  foot  the  Royalist 
troopers  never  waited  the  onslaught.  There  was 
plenty  of  light  for  pursuit  now,  and  Cromwell 
showed  yet  another  trait  of  the  great  commanders 
by  the  imsparing  energy  with  which  he  followed 
his  foe  to  complete  the  wreck.  For  twelve  miles 
the  Parliamentary  horse  kept  touch  with  the 
flying  foe.  The  King's  army  was  hopelessly  shat- 
tered; from  half  to  two-thirds  of  their  number 
were  slain  or  captured.  The  Parliamentary  losses 
were  also  heavy;  a  thousand  of  their  men  were 
killed  or  woimded.  Ireton  had  been  woimded, 
and  Skippon,  the  Parliamentary  major-general  of 
foot.  Fairfax,  who  had  behaved  with  his  usual 
gallantry,  had  had  his  helmet  knocked  off  in  the 
hand-to-hand  fighting.  The  victory  was  Crom- 
well's. 

So  decisive  was  the  overthrow  that  it  prac- 
tically ended  the  war.     For  a  moment  the  King 


94  Oliver  Cromwell 

had  hopes  of  what  Montrose  would  do;  but 
when  Montrose  came  out  of  the  Highlands  he 
found  that  the  clansmen  would  not  march  beside 
him  for  a  long  campaign ;  at  Philiphaugh  he  was 
overwhelmed  by  numbers,  and  the  Royalist  party 
in  Scotland  disappeared  with  his  overthrow. 
Fairfax  whipped  Goring  and  captured  Bristol. 
Cromwell  took  Winchester,  where  he  dealt 
severely  with  certain  of  his  troopers  who  had 
been  plundering.  He  then  stormed  Basing 
House,  an  immense  fortified  pile,  the  property 
of  the  Catholic  Marquis  of  Winchester.  Again 
and  again  the  Parliamentary  generals  had  at- 
tempted to  take  the  place,  but  had  always  been 
beaten.  Cromwell  would  not  be  denied;  after 
three  days'  battering  with  his  guns,  and  an 
evening  spent  in  prayer  and  in  reading  the 
115th  Psalm,  he  stormed  it  with  a  rush,  and 
the  splendid  castle,  its  rooms  and  galleries  filled 
with  all  the  treasures  of  art,  was  left  a  blackened 
and  blood-stained  ruin.  After  this  it  was  in  vain 
that  the  Royalist  troops  strove  to  make  head 
against  their  foes.  If  they  stood  in  the  open 
they  were  beaten ;  castle  after  castle,  and  fortified 
manor-house  after  manor-house,  were  battered 
down  or  stormed  by  Cromwell  and  his  comrades ; 
and  in  the  spring  of  1646  the  King  surrendered 
himself  to  the  Scotch  army. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   SECOND   CIVIL   WAR  AND  THE  DEATH   OP  THE 
KING. 

WHEN  the  stout  old  Royalist,  Sir  Jacob 
Astley,  was  overcome  and  surrendered, 
he  exclaimed,  as  he  gave  up  his  sword: 
**  Now  you  have  done  your  work  and  may  go  play, 
unless  you  fall  out  among  yourselves!"  It  very 
soon  became  evident  that  the  victors  would  fall 
out  among  themselves.  Any  revolutionary  move- 
ment must  be  carried  through  by  parties  whose 
aims  are  so  different,  or  whose  feelings  and  inter- 
ests are  so  divergent,  that  there  is  great  difficulty 
in  the  victors  coming  to  a  working  agreement  to 
conserve  the  fruits  of  their  victory.  Not  only  the 
leaders,  but  more  especially  their  followers — that 
is,  the  mass  of  the  people — must  possess  great 
moderation  and  good  sense  for  this  to  be  possible. 
Otherwise,  after  much  warfare  of  factions,  some 
strong  man,  a  Cromwell  or  a  Napoleon,  is  forced 
or  forces  himself  to  the  front  and  saves  the  fac- 
tions from  destroying  one  another  by  laying  his 
iron  hand  on  all. 

In  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  the 
English  people,  accustomed  for  many  generations 
to  look  to  the  monarch  as  their  real  ruler,  began 

95 


96  Oliver  Cromwell 

to  tumble  into  chaos  when  they  wrenched  them- 
selves free  from  the  ingrained  hereditary  habit 
which  had  made  loyalty  to  the  King  and  orderly 
government  convertible  terms.  They  were  not 
yet  fit  to  govern  themselves  unaided ;  such  fitness 
is  not  a  God-given,  natural  right,  but  comes  to  a 
race  only  through  the  slow  growth  of  centuries, 
and  then  only  to  those  races  which  possess  an 
immense  reserve  fund  of  strength,  common  sense, 
and  morality.  The  English  of  the  middle  of  the 
seventeenth  century  were  very  much  farther  ad- 
vanced along  the  road  than  were  the  French  at  the 
end  of  the  eighteenth.  They  had  no  such  dread- 
ful wrongs  to  avenge  as  had  the  French  people, 
and  they  indulged  in  no  such  bloodthirsty  antics 
among  themselves.  But  they  had  by  no  means 
attained  to  that  power  of  compromise  which  they 
showed  forty  years  later  in  the  Revolution  of 
1688,  or  which  was  displayed  by  their  blood-kin 
and  political  heirs,  the  American  victors  in  the 
struggles  of  1776  and  1861.  In  the  English 
Revolution  that  placed  William  on  the  throne,  in 
the  American  Revolution,  and  in  the  American 
Civil  War,  the  victors  passed  through  periods  of 
great  danger  when  it  seemed  possible  that  the 
fruits  of  their  victory  might  be  thrown  away. 
They  did  not  suffer  the  fate  of  the  victors  of 
1648,  chiefly  because  of  the  growth  of  the  spirit 
of   tolerance,    of   the   capacity   for   compromise, 


The  Second  Civil  War  97 

which  enabled  them  in  part  to  ignore  their  own 
differences,  and  in  part  to  abide  by  a  peaceftd 
settlement  of  them. 

In  England,  by  1688,  the  Cromwellian  move- 
ment had  itself  educated  even  those  who  most 
sincerely  believed  that  they  abhorred  it;  and 
there  was  a  far  less  servile  spirit  toward  James  II. 
than  toward  Charles  I.  There  was  less  fanatical 
intolerance  of  one  another  among  the  elements 
that  had  combined  to  put  William  on  the  throne ; 
and  William,  otherwise  by  no  means  as  great  a 
man  as  Cromwell,  was  yet  far  more  willing  to 
accept  working  compromises,  and  more  content  to 
let  Parliament  go  its  own  way,  even  when  that 
way  was  not  the  wisest.  After  the  American 
Revolution  Washington's  greatness  of  character, 
sound  common  sense,  and  entirely  disinterested 
patriotism,  made  him  a  bulwark  both  against 
anarchy  and  against  despotism  coming  in  the 
name  of  a  safeguard  against  anarchy;  and  the 
people  were  fit  for  self-government,  adding  to 
their  fierce  jealousy  of  tyranny  a  reluctant  and  by 
no  means  whole-hearted,  but  genuine,  admission 
that  it  could  be  averted  only  by  coming  to  an 
agreement  among  themselves.  Washington  would 
not  let  his  officers  try  to  make  him  Dictator,  nor 
allow  the  Continental  Army  to  march  against  the 
weak  Congress  which  distrusted  it,  was  imgrateful 
to  it,  and  refused  to  provide  for  it.  Unlike 
7 


98  Oliver  Cromwell 

Cromwell,  he  saw  that  the  safety  of  the  people 
lay  in  working  out  their  own  salvation,  even 
though  they  showed  much  wrong-headedness  and 
blindness,  not  merely  to  morality,  but  to  their 
own  interests;  and,  in  the  long  run,  the  people 
justified  this  trust. 

But  Cromwell  never  wanted  the  people  to 
decide  for  themselves,  imless  they  decided  in  the 
way  that  he  thought  right;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  difficulty  with  the  people  was  even 
greater;  for  they  had  neither  the  desire  for 
freedom,  the  moderation  in  using  freedom,  nor 
the  toleration  of  differences  of  opinion,  which  the 
American  colonists  had  developed  by  the  end  of 
the  following  century.  At  the  close  of,  and  after, 
the  American  Civil  War  the  differences  of  opinion 
and  belief  among  the  victors  were  such  as  would 
inevitably  have  produced  further  fighting  in 
Cromwell's  time. 

The  Northern  Democrats  were  anxious  to  com- 
bine politically  with  the  defeated  Southerners, 
and  to  reinstate,  as  nearly  as  might  be,  the  old 
ante-bellum  conditions — that  is,  to  prepare  for 
another  civil  war.  The  Republican  party  itself 
showed  signs  of  a  deep  division  between  the 
Extremists  and  Moderates,  while  there  were  all 
sorts  of  violent  little  factions,  just  as  there  were 
Anabaptists  and  Fifth  Monarchy  men  in  Crom- 
well's time.     The   Garrison   or  disunion   Aboli- 


The  Second  Civil  War  99 

tionists,  for  instance,  had  formed  just  such  a 
faction,  and  had  seen  their  cause  triumph,  not 
through,  but  in  spite  of,  their  own  efforts.  If 
the  Abolitionists  of  the  Wendell  Phillips  type, 
instead  of  seeking  to  compass  Lincoln's  defeat 
for  the  Presidency  in  1864  by  peaceful  means,  had 
threatened  armed  agitation ;  if,  instead  of  trying 
to  elect  McClellan  or  Seymour  at  the  polls,  the 
Northern  Democrats  had  taken  the  field  with  the 
former  at  their  head ;  if  the  Republicans  had  first 
crushed  them  by  force  of  arms,  and  then  had 
fought  among  themselves  imtil  the  extreme  radi- 
cal element  got  the  upper  hand,  installed  Grant 
as  perpetual  President  and  dissolved  Congress 
when  it  became  evident  that  the  Democrats  and 
moderate  Republicans  combined  would  outnum- 
ber the  radicals — we  should  have  had  a  very  fair 
analogy  to  what  happened  in  the  Cromwellian  era. 
In  such  a  case,  moreover,  be  it  remembered 
that  the  fault  would  have  lain  less  with  the  per- 
petual President  than  with  the  people  whose 
defects  called  him  into  being.  Cromwell  did  not 
stand  on  the  lofty  plane  of  Washington;  but, 
morally,  he  was  infinitely  and  beyond  all  com- 
parison above  the  class  of  utterly  selfish  and 
imscrupulous  usurpers,  of  whom  Napoleon  is  the 
greatest  representative.  At  the  close  of  the  first 
civil  war  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  he 
had  any  ambition  inconsistent  with  the  highest 


loo  Oliver  Cromwell 

good  of  his  coiintry^  or  any  thought  of  making 
himself  paramount.  To  all  outward  seeming,  his 
efforts  were  conscientiously  directed  to  securing 
the  fruits  of  the  victory  for  liberty,  while  at  the 
same  time  securing  stability  in  the  government. 
Unfortimately,  in  coming  to  an  agreement  among 
men,  no  moderation  or  wisdom  on  the  part  of  any 
one  man  will  suffice.  Something  of  these  qualities 
must  be  possessed  by  all  parties  to  the  agreement. 
The  incurable  treachery  of  King  Charles  rendered 
it  hopeless  to  work  with  him;  and  the  utter 
inability  of  Episcopalians,  Presbyterians,  Roman 
Catholics,  and  indeed  of  all  parties  and  all  creeds 
to  act  on  the  live-and-let-live  principle,  rendered 
a  really  free  government  almost  imworkable  at 
the  moment.  How  little  Cromwell  yet  thought 
of  striving  for  a  kingly  position  is  shown  by  his 
conduct  in  his  social  relations,  notably  by  the 
marriages  of  his  children,  who  at  this  time  sought 
their  mates  in  families  of  his  own  rank.  The  only 
one  of  these  marriages  with  which  we  need  concern 
ourselves  is  that  of  his  daughter,  Bridget,  to 
Ireton,  a  good  soldier  and  able  politician,  who 
was  devoted  to  Cromwell,  and  was  on  very  close 
and  intimate  terms  with  him. 

The  religious  element  entered  into  everything 
Cromwell  did,  mixing  curiously  with  his  hard  com- 
mon sense  and  practical  appreciation  of  worldly 
benefits.    It  appears  in  all  his  letters  and  speeches. 


The  Second  Civil  War  loi 

Such  a  letter  as  he  wrote  to  the  Speaker  of  the 
House  after  the  storming  of  Bristol,  is  in  thought 
and  manner  more  akin  to  the  writings  of  some  old 
Hebrew  prophet  than  to  those  of  any  conqueror 
before  or  after  Cromwell's  time.  It  is  saturated, 
not  merely  with  biblical  phraseology,  but  with 
biblical  feeling,  all  the  glory  being  ascribed  to 
God,  and  the  army  claiming  as  their  sole  honor 
that  God  had  vouchsafed  to  use  them  in  His  ser- 
vice, and  that  by  faith  and  prayer  they  had 
obtained  the  favor  of  the  Most  High.  It  is  im- 
possible for  a  fair-minded  and  earnest  man  to  read 
Cromwell's  letters  and  reports  after  action,  and  the 
prayers  he  made  and  the  psalms  he  chose  to  read 
and  to  give  out  before  action,  and  to  doubt  the 
intensity  of  the  man's  religious  fervor.  In  our  day 
such  utterances  would  be  hypocritical.  Almost 
the  only  modem  generals  in  whom  they  would 
have  been  the  sincere  expression  of  inward  belief 
were  Stonewall  Jackson  and  Gordon;  and  the 
times  had  changed  so  utterly  that  even  they  could 
not  possibly  give  utterance  to  them  as  Cromwell 
did.  But  in  Cromwell's  time  the  most  earnest 
Puritans  thought  as  he  did,  and  expressed  their 
thoughts  as  he  did.  That  such  expression  should 
lend  itself  very  readily  to  hypocrisy  was  inevitable ; 
indeed,  it  was  perhaps  inevitable  that  the  habitual 
use  of  such  expression  should  breed  somewhat  of 
hypocrisy  in  almost    any  user.      The  incessant 


loa  Oliver  Cromwell 

employment  by  Cromwell  and  his  comrades  of  the 
word  "saints,"  to  distinguish  themselves  and  those 
who  thought  like  them,  is  particularly  objection- 
able in  its  offensive  self -consciousness. 

In  this  letter  about  the  taking  of  Bristol  Crom- 
well touches  upon  the  religious  differences  which 
were  the  great  causes  of  division  among  the  vic- 
tors.    He  writes : 

"  Presbyterians,  Independents,  all  have  here  the 
same  spirit  of  faith  and  prayer ;  the  same  presence 
and  answer ;  they  agree  here ;  have  no  names  of 
difference;  pity  it  is  it  should  be  otherwise  any- 
where. .  .  .  And  for  brethren  in  things  of  the 
mind  we  look  for  no  compulsion  but  that  of  light 
and  reason." 

Cromwell  strove  earnestly  to  bring  about  har- 
mony between  the  Independents  of  the  New 
Model  army  and  the  Presbyterians,  who  were 
dominant  in  Parliament.  Even  in  that  day  there 
were  in  private  life  men  of  high  character  and 
great  intellect  who  believed  in  true  religious  lib- 
erty, men  who  stood  far  ahead  of  Cromwell;  but 
Cromwell  was  equally  far  ahead  of  all  the  men 
who  then  had  any  real  control  in  public  life;  so 
far  ahead,  indeed,  that  he  could  not  get  any  con- 
siderable body  of  public  opinion  abreast  of  him. 

The  Ironsides,  the  cavalry  of  Cromwell,  stood 
as  the  extreme  representatives  of  the  spirit  which 
actuated  the  army.     The  great  bulk  of  them  were 


The  Second  Civil  War  103 

men  of  intense  political  and  religious  convictions. 
However,  many  even  of  the  cavalry,  and  a  large 
majority  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  infantry,  were 
of  the  ordinary  military  type,  men  of  no  particu- 
lar convictions,  a  considerable  ntunber,  mdeed, 
having  been  enlisted  from  among  the  captured 
armies  and  garrisons  of  the  King  himself.  Under 
the  ties  of  discipline  and  comradeship,  such  men 
were  sure  to  follow  with  entire  fidelity  the  master- 
ful spirits  among  the  officers  and  in  their  own 
ranks ;  and  all  these  masterful  spirits  were  devoted 
to  Cromwell  as  the  great  leader  who  had  given 
them  victory.  They  were  even  more  devoted  to 
their  conceptions  of  religious  and  political  liberty, 
and  were  resolutely  bent  on  striking  down  the 
King  who  embodied,  in  their  minds,  the  principles 
of  religious  and  political  oppression.  These  men 
had  broken  entirely  with  the  past,  and  were  no 
longer  overawed  by  the  name  of  hereditary  power. 
"  What,"  they  asked,  "were  the  Lords  of  England 
but  William  the  Conqueror*s  Colonels,  or  the 
Barons  but  his  Majors,  or  the  Knights  but  his 
Captains?" 

They  believed  they  were  indeed  the  Lord^s 
chosen  people,  and  that  upon  them,  as  conquer- 
ors, there  devolved  the  duty  of  safeguarding  the 
interests  of  religion  and  of  the  Commonwealth. 
They  wished  to  strike  down  the  bishops  as  well 
as  the  King;  and  though    most  of  them  were 


I04  Oliver  Cromwell 

Congregation alists  or  Baptists,  they  had  already- 
begun  to  develop  plenty  of  men  whose  Christianity 
was  of  the  most  heterodox  form,  or  who  boldly  an- 
noimced  that  they  had  a  right  to  profess  any  creed, 
Christian  or  otherwise,  if  they  so  desired.  To- 
gether with  their  iron  discipline  as  an  army  went 
wide  liberty  of  thought  and  discussion  on  all  out- 
side matters — religious  and  political  alike — when 
they  were  not  in  the  ranks.  There  were  preachers 
who  served  with  somber  fidelity  as  privates,  but 
who  were  fanatical  inciters  of  Republican  enthu- 
siasm in  every  leisure  hour,  haranguing  and  ex- 
horting their  fellow-soldiers  about  every  political 
or  religious  wrong. 

Trouble  was  brewing  between  this  army  and 
Parliament.  The  Episcopalians — the  Royalists — 
had  left  Parliament  when  the  war  broke  out.  The 
Presb3rterians  were  in  complete  command.  Lon- 
don, which  held  the  purse-strings  of  the  Parlia- 
mentary cause,  was  strongly  Presbyterian.  Now, 
the  Presbyterians,  as  the  war  went  on,  had  grown 
more  and  more  afraid  of  their  allies,  and,  indeed, 
of  too  decisive  a  victory  over  the  King.  They 
were  just  as  much  bent  upon  an  intolerant  -uni- 
formity in  Church  matters  as  was  Laud,  though 
they  wished  to  substitute  a  different  form  of 
Church  government,  which  should  rest  upon  a 
broader  and  more  popular  basis.  They  wished  to 
make  Parliament  supreme,  but  they  had  no  idea 


The  Second  Civil  War  105 

of  dispensing  with  the  King,  and  they  were 
exceedingly  distrustful  of  a  popular  movement 
which  would  extend  liberty  beyond  and  beneath 
the  classes  from  which  they  drew  their  strength. 
On  the  contrary,  the  army,  which  represented  the 
Independent  movement,  was  strongly  democratic 
in  its  tendencies,  and  was  filled  with  sullen  wrath 
against  the  King. 

Cromwell  himself  was  no  theorist;  in  fact,  he 
was  altogether  too  little  of  one.  He  wished  to  do 
away  with  concrete  acts  of  oppression  and  injus- 
tice; he  sought  to  make  life  easier  for  any  who 
suffered  tangible  wrong.  Though  earnestly  bent 
upon  doing  justice  as  he  saw  it,  and  desirous  to 
secure  the  essentials  of  liberty  for  the  people  as  a 
whole,  he  failed  to  see  that  questions  of  form — 
that  is,  of  law — in  securing  liberty  might  be  them- 
selves essential  instead  of,  as  they  seemed  to  him, 
non-essential.  He  was  reluctant  to  enter  into 
general  schemes  of  betterment,  especially  if  they 
seemed  in  any  way  visionary.  But  when  his  feel- 
ings were  greatly  roused  over  specific  cases  of 
wrong-doing  or  oppression,  he  sometimes  became 
so  wrought  up  as  to  advocate  reform  in  language 
so  sweeping  that  he  seemed  to  commit  himself, 
not  only  to  absolute  religious  toleration,  but  to 
complete  political  equality.  Thus  when  he  broke 
with  Lord  Manchester  he  told  him  that  he  hoped 
"to  live  to  see  never  a  nobleman  in  England." 


io6  Oliver  Cromwell 

In  open  Parliament  he  denoiinced  "monarchical 
government . "  He  advocated  entire  religious  free- 
dom. In  dealing  with  the  army  he  declared  his 
readiness  to  maintain  the  doctrine  that  "the 
foimdation  and  the  supremacy  is  in  the  people — 
radically  in  them — and  to  be  set  down  by  them 
in  their  representations" — that  is,  by  their  repre- 
sentatives in  Parliament. 

Of  course,  to  make  his  conduct  square  with 
these  various  utterances,  Cromwell  would  have 
had  to  strive  for  precisely  such  a  government  as 
Washington  was  able  to  inaugurate  a  century 
and  a  half  later;  a  government  in  which  there 
should  be  complete  religious  toleration,  in  which 
all  differences  of  rank  and  title  should  be  abol- 
ished, and  in  which  the  basis  of  representation  in 
Parliament  would  have  to  approach  more  or  less 
closely  to  manhood  suffrage.  Doubtless,  there 
were  times  when  Cromwell  ardently  wished  for 
such  a  government;  but  it  was  wholly  out  of 
the  question  to  realize  it  in  the  middle  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  even  in  England.  Genera- 
tions had  to  pass  before  men  could  grasp  the  true 
principles  of  religious  toleration  and  political 
equality  in  all  their  bearings;  and,  like  every 
other  man  who  actually  works  out  great  reforms, 
who  actually  does  signal  service  in  the  world, 
Cromwell  had  to  face  facts  as  they  were,  and  not 
as  bodies   of  extremists — ^no  matter  how  good — 


The  Second  Civil  War  107 

thought  they  ought  to  be.  The  best  and  most 
high-minded  of  the  Puritan  party  were  now 
growing  to  fear  lest  the  Presbyterians  should 
try  to  perpetuate  the  old  religious  oppression 
imder  a  new  name.  Milton  —  with  but  one 
exception  the  greatest  poet  of  the  English 
tongue,  a  man  whose  political  and  social  ideas 
were  at  least  two  centuries  in  advance  of  his  time, 
but  who  had  the  good  sense  to  accept,  no  matter 
with  what  heart-burning,  the  best  possible  when 
he  could  not  get  the  best — Milton  expressed  the 
convictions  of  his  whole  party  when  he  said  that 
if  "Presbyter  was  but  Priest  writ  large'*  the 
people  were  no  better  off  than  before. 

The  army  began  to  show  openly  its  spirit  of 
fierce  unrest.  A  very  considerable  portion  avowed 
extreme  republican  theories.  The  Levellers,  as 
they  were  called,  were  looked  upon  in  that  day, 
even  by  advocates  of  freedom  like  Cromwell, 
with  great  distrust,  although  the  principles  they 
advocated — such  as  manhood  suffrage — are  now 
the  commonplaces  of  American  politics.  Of 
course,  then  they  were  not  commonplaces;  they 
were  revolutionary  ideas,  for  the  reception  of 
which  the  mind  of  the  English  people  was  not 
ready,  and  therefore  it  was  the  duty  of  men  who 
sought  practical  reform  to  refuse  to  put  these 
schemes  into  operation. 

There  were  much  more  extreme  and  dangerous 


io8  Oliver  Cromwell 

groups  than  the  mere  RepubHcans;  groups  of 
men  in  whom  the  desire  for  reHgious,  political, 
and  moral  reform  had  overstepped  the  broad,  but 
not  always  clearly  marked,  border  line  which 
divides  sane  and  healthy  fervor  from  fanaticism. 
In  such  troublous  times  small  sects  and  parties  of 
extremists  swarm.  Already  the  foimdations  were 
laid  for  the  Fifth  Monarchy  men,  the  men  who 
believed  that  the  times  were  ripe  for  the  installa- 
tion of  the  last  great  world  monarchy,  the  mon- 
archy of  which  the  Saviour  himself  was  to  be 
Ruler;  the  men  who  shouted  for  King  Jesus, 
and  were  ferociously  opposed  to  everybody  who 
would  not  advocate  the  immediate  introduction 
into  all  mtmdane  affairs  of  Heaven's  law,  as  the 
Fifth  Monarchy  men  chose  to  interpret  it.  Of 
course,  men  of  this  type  are  always  to  be  foimd 
in  every  free  government,  and  aside  from  their 
peculiar  notions,  they  may  have  excellent  traits. 
In  peaceful  times  and  places  like  the  United 
States  at  the  present  day,  they  merely  join  little 
extreme  parties,  and  run  small,  separate  tickets 
on  election  day,  thereby  giving  aid,  comfort,  and 
amusement  to  the  totally  unregenerate.  In  times 
of  great  political  convulsion,  when  the  appeal  to 
arms  has  been  made,  these  harmless  bodies  may 
draft  into  their  ranks — as  the  Fifth  Monarchy 
men  did — fierce  and  dangerous  spirits,  ever  ready 
to  smite  down  with  any  weapons  the  possible  good, 


The  Second  Civil  War  109 

because  it  is  not  the  impossible  best.  When  this 
occurs  they  need  to  be  narrowly  watched. 

There  are  many  good  people  who  find  it  diffi- 
cult to  keep  in  mind  the  obvious  fact  that,  while 
extremists  are  sometimes  men  who  are  in  advance 
of  their  age,  more  often  they  are  men  who  are  not 
in  advance  at  all,  but  simply  to  one  side  or  the 
other  of  a  great  movement,  or  even  lagging  behind 
it,  or  trying  to  pilot  it  in  the  wrong  direction. 

The  seething  imrest  of  the  army  foimd  expres- 
sion in  the  creation  of  a  regular  political  organiza- 
tion to  oppose  the  organized  Parliament.  The 
officers  formed  a  council,  and  the  rank  and  file 
chose  delegates,  two  for  each  company  or  troop, 
known  as  ' '  agitators. ' '  In  short,  the  army  became 
an  organized  political  body  whose  scarcely  ac- 
knowledged fimction  was  to  control  or  supersede 
the  Parliament ;  just  as,  prior  to  the  outbreak  of 
the  American  Revolution,  Committees  of  Corre- 
spondence were  formed,  in  the  various  colonies, 
out  of  which  there  sprang  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, which  superseded  the  loyalist  colonial  legis- 
latures. 

Cromwell,  like  every  other  great  leader  who 
rises  in  a  period  of  storm  and  convulsion,  could 
partly  direct  the  forces  aroimd  him,  and  in  part 
had  to  be  directed  by  them.  He  did  not  sym- 
pathize with  the  extreme  position  of  the  army 
about  the  King — the  ''man  of  blood,"   as  the 


no  Oliver  Cromwell 

Puritan  zealots  called  him,  whose  life  they  already 
demanded;  nor  yet  with  their  radical  political 
aspirations.  But  it  was  the  army  alone  through 
which  he  could  act,  which  gave  him  his  strength ; 
and  in  return  he  was  the  one  man  who  could  in  any 
way  check  or  control  it,  for  its  loyalty  to,  and 
admiration  of,  the  great  leader  at  whose  hands  it 
had  drained  the  cup  of  victory,  were  the  only 
emotions  strong  enough  to  offset  its  fierce  zeal 
for  its  own  theories  of  Church  and  State. 

Cromwell  was  most  earnestly  desirous  of  get- 
ting a  working  compromise  between  the  King, 
the  Presbyterian  Parliament,  and  the  Independent 
army ;  a  compromise  which  would  allow  the  King 
to  reign,  exercising  such  executive  powers  as  the 
Parliament  felt  he  should  possess,  and  which 
should  leave  the  supreme  control  to  Parliament, 
but  with  sufficient  guarantees  for  political  and 
religious  freedom  to  insure  justice  to  the  Inde- 
pendents and  the  soldiers.  He  strove  so  hard  to 
accomplish  his  purpose  as  to  excite  angry  mutter- 
ings  against  himself  among  his  own  followers  in 
the  army;  and  the  first  steps  of  the  impending 
revolution  were  seemingly  taken  by  him  only 
because  he  was  irresistibly  pushed  onward  by  the 
army  itself.  When,  however,  he  had  once  made 
up  his  mind  that  there  was  no  other  path  possible, 
he  trod  it  as  a  leader,  with  all  his  wonted  firmne-ss 
and  decision. 


The  Second  Civil  War  m 

The  effort  for  reconciliation  was  hopeless, 
chiefly  because  the  King  was  an  utterly  impossi- 
ble person  with  whom  to  deal.  He  had  many 
bitter  foes;  but  they  could  not  prevail  against 
him  until  he  convinced  some  of  his  would-be 
friends  that  he  was  absolutely  and  utteriy  untrust- 
worthy. He  never  for  a  moment  entertained  the 
idea  of  accepting  his  defeat,  of  abandoning  the 
effort  to  rule  as  a  despot,  and  of  acting  with  good 
faith  toward  the  people.  His  purpose  was  to  play 
off  the  Presbyterians,  together  with  the  Scotch, 
against  the  Independents ;  as  he  wrote  to  a  friend, 
he  hoped  to  get  either  the  one  party  or  the  other 
"to  side  with  me  for  extirpating  one  another,  and 
I  shall  be  really  King  again." 

Meanwhile,  the  Presbyterian  Parliament  was 
determined  not  to  tolerate  the  "sectaries"  of  the 
Congregationalist  and  Baptist  Churches,  and  was 
drawing  closer  and  closer  to  the  Scotch  Covenant- 
ers, who  were  even  more  intolerant;  and  finally 
it  grew  ready  to  accept  the  King  himself  on  almost 
any  terms,  if  it  could  o  vercome  the  army. 

But  the  army  could  not  be  overcome.  It  had 
perfected  its  political  organization,  and  had  begun 
to  work  through  Ireton — Cromwell's  other  self. 
The  army  was  genuinely  reluctant  to  break  with 
the  Parliament,  for,  after  all,  it  was  deeply  per- 
meated with  the  English  respect  for  law  and  order ; 
and  in  the  elections  to  fill  the  vacancies  in  the 


112  Oliver  Cromwell 

House,  very  many  Independents — men  like  Ireton, 
Fairfax,  and  Blake,  the  aftertime  admiral — ^had 
been  returned,  so  that  there  was  in  the  Parliament 
a  party  which  strongly  sympathized  with  the 
army. 

The  majority  in  Parliament,  however,  remained 
steadfast  in  its  own  views,  and  by  its  refusal  to 
give  the  soldiers  their  arrears  of  pay  it  added  a 
very  tangible,  material  grievance  to  those  of  an 
ethical  character.  In  January,  1647,  the  Scottish 
army  delivered  King  Charles  to  the  agents  of  the 
Parliament,  and  quitted  England,  having  received 
part  of  the  sum  of  money  due  them. 

The  most  complicated  and  devious  negotiations 
followed  between  the  King,  the  Parliament,  and 
the  army.  Cromwell  tried  to  get  the  army  in 
touch  with  the  Parliament,  but  foimd  the  Par- 
liament hopelessly  obstinate.  He  tried  to  get  it 
in  touch  with  the  King,  but  found  the  King  hope- 
lessly false.  Yet,  neither  could  the  King  and  Par- 
liament come  together.  Then  the  army  threatened 
mutiny,  whereupon  the  Parliament  began  to  nego- 
tiate for  bringing  back  the  Scottish  force  to  over- 
awe the  New  Model,  and  attempted  the  disband- 
ment  of  the  latter.  The  army  struck  back  with 
great  decision  and  sent  Comet  Joyce  to  seize  the 
person  of  the  King  and  take  him  away  from  the 
Presbyterians.  Parliament  attempted  to  proceed 
with  the  disbandment  of  the  army,  but  was  forced 


The  Second  Civil  War  113 

to  abandon  the  effort  when  it  became  evident  that 
to  pursue  it  meant  war.  No  one  knew  quite  what 
the  outcome  would  be,  or,  indeed,  what  his  own 
course  would  be. 

Cromwell,  like  the  rest,  was  drifting;  he  seri- 
ously thought  of  leaving  England  and  going  to 
Germany  to  fight  for  the  Protestant  cause,  as  the 
Thirty  Years'  War  had  not  yet  come  quite  to  an 
end.  To  the  French  ambassador,  who  sounded 
him  on  the  object  of  his  ambition,  he  answered: 
*'No  one  rises  so  high  as  he  who  knows  not 
whither  he  is  going."  He  was  certainly  at  this 
time  making  the  most  honest  efforts  to  come  to 
an  agreement,  either  with  the  King,  or  the  Par- 
liament, or  with  both,  provided  only  liberty  of 
conscience  should  be  granted,  the  power  of  Par- 
liament guaranteed  against  the  despotism  of  the 
King,  and  the  rights  of  the  people  guaranteed  as 
against  the  despotism  of  Parliament.  But,  when 
Parliament  began  to  negotiate  with  the  Scots  on 
its  accotint,  and  Charles  secretly  sought  to  enter 
into  a  separate  agreement  with  the  Scots  on  his 
accoimt,  to  bring  about  an  invasion  of  England, 
while  the  city  mob,  which  was  rabidly  Presby- 
terian, forced  the  hand  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons and  compelled  its  members  to  defy  the 
army,  it  became  evident  that  Oliver  had  to  choose 
his  course.  Reluctantly  he  was  pushed  along  the 
road  of  military  revolution.  The  speaker  and  the 
8 


114  Oliver  Cromwell 

Independent  members  of  Parliament,  in  fear  of 
the  London  mob,  took  refuge  with  the  army, 
whither  Cromwell  himself  had  already  gone.  On 
June  lo  the  army  issued  a  manifesto,  demand- 
ing a  settlement  of  the  difficulties  upon  terms 
which  it  approved.  Early  in  August  it  marched 
in  formidable  and  orderly  parade  through  the  city, 
overawing  resistance  by  its  mere  appearance,  and 
Parliament  submitted.  This  was  the  real  begin- 
ning of  the  military  interference  which  terminated 
in  the  military  dictatorship  of  one  man.  If  Crom- 
well is  to  be  blamed  for  what  he  did  to  the  Long 
Parliament,  this  is  the  step  for  which  he  is  to  be 
blamed  most;  yet  it  was  a  step  approved  by 
Milton,  Fairfax,  Ireton,  and  the  great  majority 
of  the  best  and  most  high-minded  believers  in 
English  liberty  who  were  then  alive.  The  con- 
duct of  the  King  and  the  Parliament  had  been 
such  that  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  any  other  course 
was  possible. 

Cromwell  did  his  best  to  stop  the  Revolution 
at  the  point  it  had  now  reached.  For  months  he 
endeavored  to  make  terms  with  the  King  on  the 
conditions  outlined  above ;  and  he  not  only  put  a 
stop  to  the  extreme  democratic  agitation  of  the 
Levellers  and  refused  to  further  the  plan  for  a 
republican  commonwealth,  but,  with  prompt 
severity,  repressed  a  mutiny  that  broke  out  under 
the  cry  of   ''England's  Freedom  and   Soldiers* 


The  Second  Civil  War  115 

Rights."  He  disregarded  the  grumbling  of  the 
army  until  he  became  convinced  that  Charles  was 
incurably  false,  incurably  treacherous  and  un- 
trustworthy, and  was  fomenting  a  coimter-revolu- 
tion.  Then  Cromwell  turned  from  him  with 
loathing,  and  made  up  his  mind  to  trust  to  the 
sword,  and  to  strike  down  anyone,  even  the  King 
himself,  if  the  need  warranted  it. 

It  was  high  time  for  action.  In  Ireland  the 
Royalists,  the  Catholics,  and  even  the  Presby- 
terians, were  imiting  against  the  Parliament.  The 
Scotch,  under  the  lead  of  Hamilton  and  the  Pres- 
byterian Royalists,  declared  for  the  King;  the 
English  Presbyterians  were  for  him  to  the  extent 
that  they  were  against  the  army ;  and  throughout 
England  the  Cavaliers  were  arming  for  an  uprising. 
Dark  indeed  seemed  the  peril.  It  had  taken  four 
years  for  the  English  Presbyterians,  the  Scotch, 
and  the  New  Model,  the  army  of  the  Independ- 
ents, to  conquer  the  Royalists,  and  now  the  New 
Model  was  pitted  single-handed  against  the  Scotch 
and  the  Royalists,  while  the  Presbyterians  were  at 
best  lukewarm.  Nevertheless,  exactly  as  in  the 
French  Revolution,  the  victory  lay  with  the 
Motmtain  when  it  was  brought  face  to  face  not 
only  with  hostile  parties  in  France  but  with  the 
rest  of  armed  Europe,  so  now  the  fierce  energy  of 
the  New  Model,  with  the  greatest  of  Englishmen 
at  its  head,  was  destined  to  prove  too  much  for 


ii6  Oliver  Cromwell 

its  foes.  The  grim  Ironsides  rallied  to  their  cause 
with  the  devotion  of  fanatics,  and  the  well-ordered 
discipline  of  splendid  soldiers.  With  fierce  ex- 
hortations and  sermons,  with  internal  searchings 
of  spirit,  with  outpourings  of  prayer,  they  made 
ready  for  battle,  and  in  each  dark  Puritan  heart 
welled  the  determination  not  only  to  put  down 
armed  resistance,  but  to  take  the  last  great  ven- 
geance upon  the  King,  the  cause  of  the  blood- 
guiltiness. 

In  April,  1648,  the  Second  Civil  War  broke 
out.  The  gentry  of  Wales  were  a  imit  for  the 
King,  and  the  commonalty  followed  them.  The 
Cavaliers  rose  in  force  in  the  North,  and  the  Scotch 
prepared  to  send  a  formidable  army  across  the 
border  to  their  aid ;  and  there  were  Royalist  out- 
breaks everywhere,  even  in  the  southern  and 
eastern  cotinties.  Berwick,  Carlyle,  Chester,  Pem- 
broke, Colchester,  were  seized  and  held  for  the 
King.  The  Presb3rterians  of  London  were  in 
commotion ;  the  Presbyterians  in  Parliament  itself 
were  half-hearted  and  divided ;  but  the  Independ- 
ents and  the  army  had  no  doubts.  Fairfax 
marched  into  Kent  and  Essex,  and,  after  some 
hard  fighting,  trampled  under  foot  the  insurrec- 
tion. One  Parliamentary  colonel  whipped  the 
Welsh  at  St.  Pagan's;  another  crushed  out  a 
Royalist  rising  in  Lancashire;  General  Lambert 
was  sent  to  the  North,  where  Sir  Marmaduke 


The  Second  Civil  War  117 

Langdale — Oliver's  old  foe  at  Naseby — had  raised 
Yorkshire  for  the  King.  Oliver  himself  marched 
to  the  siege  of  Pembroke,  which,  owing  to  lack  of 
cannon,  he  could  not  take  imtil  July  11.  This 
ended  the  Welsh  War.  The  risings  in  the  south 
and  center  had  been  thoroughly  stamped  out; 
the  fleet,  which  had  partially  revolted,  was  for 
the  most  part  brought  back  to  loyalty ;  and  there 
remained  only  to  deal  with  the  Northern  Royalists 
and  the  Scotch  army  tinder  the  Duke  of  Hamilton, 
which  had  by  this  time  crossed  the  border. 

The  composition  of  Hamilton's  army  and  the 
history  of  events  in  both  Scotland  and  Ireland  at 
this  moment,  are  alike  sufficient  to  show  the  tangle 
in  which  politics  then  were — the  kaleidoscopic 
changes  in  the  relations  of  factions  and  parties, 
and  the  seeming  minuteness  of  the  points  of  dif- 
ference over  which  these  same  parties  waged 
ferocious  and  resolute  war.  Hamilton's  cavalry 
was  commanded  by  Mimro,  who  had  come  over 
from  Ulster  to  take  part  in  the  invasion  of  Eng- 
land. Mimro  and  the  Scotch  Presbyterians  of 
Ulster  had,  during  the  years  immediately  suc- 
ceeding the  great  Irish  uprising,  been  the  formi- 
dable and  merciless  opponents  of  the  Irish  of  the 
North.  But  when  the  English  Civil  War  was 
fairly  on,  the  English  Royalists  in  Ireland — Epis- 
copalians and  Catholics  alike — gradually  lost  their 
animosity  toward  their  Irish  foes,  in  their  greater 


ii8  Oliver  Cromwell 

animosity  toward  the  Puritans,  and  finally  the 
Presbyterians  followed  suit.  This  resulted  in  the 
release  of  Munro  and  a  large  part  of  the  Presby- 
terian force  in  Ulster,  who  went  to  the  aid  of 
Hamilton.  Hamilton's  own  government  was  Pres- 
byterian and  ostentatiously  devoted  to  the  Cove- 
nant. It  is  very  difficult  for  a  modem  observer 
to  see  any  essential  point  of  difference,  either  in 
their  attitude  toward  the  Covenant,  toward  the 
King,  or  toward  England ;  between  the  party  that 
at  the  moment  controlled  Scotland,  and  the  party 
which  was  soon  to  drive  it  out  of  power.  Yet 
the  bitterness  between  them  was  intense.  The 
bulk  of  the  Presbyterian  ministers,  and  the  fiercest 
and  most  intense  Presbyterian  zealots,  hated 
Hamilton  and  his  fellows  with  mortal  hatred,  and 
were  only  waiting  their  chance  to  rise  against 
them. 

Cromwell  advanced  to  the  encotmter  with  entire 
confidence,  and  sternly  anxious  to  get  at  his  foes. 
He  was  a  thorough  Englishman  at  a  time  when, 
to  the  thorough  Englishman,  the  Scotch  were 
classed  with  other  aliens.  Bitterly  though  he 
hated  the  Royalists,  he  yet  acknowledged  them 
as  fellow-countrymen;  but  he  made  no  such 
acknowledgment  in  the  case  of  the  Scots.  He 
explained  that  he  preferred  the  Cavalier  interest 
to  the  Scottish  interest,  just  as  he  preferred  the 
Scottish  to  the  Irish ;  and  he  now  moved  against 


The  Second  Civil  War  119 

enemies  whom  he  regarded  not  merely  as  enemies 
to  his  cause,  but  as  enemies  to  his  cotmtry. 

There  seemed  every  reason  for  the  Scots  to  be 
confident.  Even  with  their  help  the  Parliamen- 
tarians had  been  able  to  put  down  the  Royalists 
only  at  the  cost  of  four  years  of  hard  fighting; 
and  now  the  Scotch  and  the  Royalists  were  to  act 
together.  They  were  to  be  pitted  against  Crom- 
well, the  best  Parliamentary  commander,  to  be 
sure ;  but  the  Scotch  had  done  at  least  as  well  as 
the  average  of  the  allies  at  the  victory  of  Marston 
Moor,  and  still  had  in  mind  the  memory  of  their 
easy  successes  against  their  English  foes  in  the 
two  Bishops'  Wars. 

The  great  victories  of  the  Parliamentary  army 
had  hitherto  been  won  when  the  odds  in  numbers 
were  in  their  favor ;  now,  they  were  about  to  fight 
with  the  odds  over  two  to  one  against  them. 
Hamilton's  army  was  about  21,000  strong,  includ- 
ing 3,000  Yorkshire  Royalists  imder  Langdale. 
Cromwell  had  only  some  9,000  men;  but  the 
great  bulk  of  them  were  veterans,  who  imder  his 
leadership  had  become  the  finest  soldiers  of  the 
age. 

Hamilton  moved  slowly  south  toward  Preston, 
his  army  scattered  in  a  long  line,  Langdale  at  the 
head,  and  Mimro  bringing  up  the  rear.  Crom- 
well abandoned  his  heavy  baggage-train  that  it 
might  not  encumber  his  movements;    Lambert 


I20  Oliver  Cromwell 

joined  him,  and  he  marched  with  fiery  speed  to 
strike  his  foes.  The  Scotch,  confident  in  their 
numbers,  and  ignorant  of  the  movements  of  their 
speedy  antagonist,  advanced  in  loose  order.  On 
August  1 7  Cromwell  struck  their  army ;  by  which 
time  Hamilton's  straggling  march  had  resulted  in 
Langdale's  taking  position  to  cover  its  left  flank. 
The  Scotch  were  partially  aware  of  their  danger 
and  were  uneasily  trying  to  concentrate.  Lang- 
dale  was  left  to  bear  the  shock  of  the  first  attack 
single-handed.  Cromwell  appreciated,  as  well  as 
any  commander  that  ever  lived,  the  vital  element 
of  time;  the  need  for  taking  full  advantage  of 
what  the  moment  brought  forth.  His  headlong 
march  had  resulted  in  some  of  his  soldiers  lagging 
behind  the  others,  but  he  had  gained  what  he 
wanted ;  he  had  surprised  his  foes  when  they  were 
unprepared  to  use  their  superiority  of  force,  and 
he  dashed  at  them  as  soon  as  his  foremost  men 
came  up,  determined  to  destroy  them  in  detail. 
Langdale  made  a  stiff  fight,  and  owing  to  the 
character  of  the  country — the  fields  were  small, 
and  the  fences  strong  and  high — the  cavalry  was 
not  able  to  do  much,  so  that  the  decisive  fighting 
was  done  by  the  infantry,  which  was  not  usually 
the  case  in  these  wars.  The  struggle  took  place 
about  four  miles  from  Preston,  near  which  town, 
but  south  of  the  river  Ribble,  the  bulk  of  the 
Scotch  foot  were  gathered. 


The  Second  Civil  War  121 

For  four  hours  Langdale's  men  cliing  to  their 
hedges  and  buildings,  regiment  after  regiment  of 
the  Cromwellians  fighting  to  dislodge  them.  Says 
Cromwell :  "  Our  men  fought  with  incredible  valor 
and  resolution  .  .  .  often  coming  to  push  of  Pike, 
and  to  close  Fire,  and  always  making  the  Enemy 
to  recoil  .  .  .  the  Enemy  making,  though  he  was 
still  worsted,  very  stiff  and  sturdy  resistance. 
Colonel  Dean's  and  Colonel  Pride's,  outwinging 
the  enemy,  could  not  come  to  so  much  share  of 
the  Action  .  .  .  the  Enemy  shogging  down 
toward  the  Bridge,  and  keeping  almost  all  in 
reserve  that  so  he  might  bring  fresh  commands 
often  to  fight.'* 

The  Scotch  sent  some  men  and  ammimition  to 
Langdale,  but  made  no  serious  effort  to  help  him, 
and  continued  their  march.  At  last  he  was  over- 
powered and  driven  into  the  town.  As  soon  as 
his  men  were  dislodged  from  the  hedges  and 
enclosures,  the  Cromwellian  horse  fell  furiously 
upon  them,  utterly  routing  and  scattering  them; 
at  the  same  time,  the  Cromwellian  foot,  pushing 
forward,  drove  back  the  Scotch  foot,  which  had 
been  posted  near  the  bridge  to  secure  a  passage 
for  Langdale  across  the  Ribble,  and  cut  off  the 
fugitives  from  the  rest  of  the  army. 

The  Ironsides  thimdered  into  the  streets  of 
Preston  at  the  heels  of  Langdale  and  the  flying 
remnants  of  his  forces.     Hamilton  led  one  or  two 


122  Oliver  Cromwell 

charges,  and  for  a  moment  checked  the  pursuit, 
but  it  was  now  too  late  to  retrieve  matters,  and 
soon  afterward  the  whole  of  his  army  was  again 
in  panic  rout.  The  beaten  cavalry  fled  north, 
goaded  by  the  Cromwellian  sword,  until  they 
reached  the  rear  guard  under  Mimro.  Most  of 
the  Yorkshire  and  Scotch  infantry  north  of  the 
Ribble  were  killed,  captured,  or  scattered ;  a  few 
only  escaped  to  the  Scotch  army  south  of  the 
Ribble  by  swimming  across  it. 

The  day  thus  ended  with  the  defeat  of  part  of 
the  Scotch  forces,  who  lost  in  killed  or  captured, 
5,000  men,  besides  those  who  were  dispersed. 
Moreover,  the  Scotch  army  was  cut  in  two; 
Munro  being  to  the  north,  separated  from  all  the 
rest,  who,  under  Hamilton,  were  completely  cut 
off  from  their  base  in  Scotland.  Sending  a  few 
troops  to  harry  the  flying  horsemen,  Cromwell 
turned  to  deal  with  the  Scotch  main  army,  which 
was  even  yet  more  numerous  than  his  own. 
But  the  Scotch  were  cowed  by  the  success  of 
Cromwell's  utterly  unexpected  attack.  The  sol- 
diers had  lost  confidence  in  their  leaders,  and 
they  were  cut  off  from  their  own  country,  and, 
therefore,  from  all  hope  of  supplies.  A  coimcil 
of  war  was  held  that  night,  and  the  retreat  was 
continued.  The  fagged-out  Cromwellians  fol- 
lowed and  harassed  them.  The  horse,  tmder 
Colonel  Thomhaugh,  rode  into  their  rear  ranks 


The  Second  Civil  War  123 

and  bothered  and  detained  them,  though  at  cost 
of  the  life  of  the  Colonel,  who  was  shot  in  one  of 
the  fierce  struggles.  Again  and  again  the  Scotch 
stood,  but  each  time  to  be  beaten ;  the  last  stand 
being  made  at  Win  wick  church,  imder  a  "little 
spark  in  a  blue  bonnet'*  who  himself  was  slain. 
Here  they  lined  the  hedges  with  musketeers,  and 
filled  the  lane  with  their  pikemen,  and  hours 
went  by  before  the  Puritans,  imder  Pride,  finally 
pushed  their  charge  home,  and  gained  possession 
of  the  place  which  had  been  held  so  stubbornly. 
Both  sides  were  utterly  worn  out,  and  it  was 
impossible  to  urge  the  pursuit  as  rapidly  and 
strongly  as  Cromwell  hoped.  Finally,  leaving 
Lambert  to  deal  with  the  shattered  fragments  of 
Hamilton's  command,  Cromwell  turned  north  and 
followed  Munro. 

The  victory  was  overwhelming.  Two  thousand 
Scotch  and  Royalists  had  been  slain,  and  10,000 
were  captured ;  more  than  Cromwell's  whole  force. 
Almost  all  the  generals  were  taken ;  Hamilton  was 
afterward  beheaded.  The  fate  of  the  captured 
rank  and  file  was  hard.  Throughout  the  First 
Civil  War,  the  common  soldiers,  when  taken,  had 
either  been  exchanged  or  released,  or  often  enough 
had  enlisted  on  the  side  of  the  victors;  but  the 
Puritan  generals  and  those  behind  them  were  in 
no  mood  to  take  a  merciful  view  of  men  whom 
they  regarded  as  wanton  offenders,  whether  they 


124  Oliver  Cromwell 

were  Scotchmen  or  Englishmen.  The  captives  of 
Preston  battle  were  sold  into  slavery ;  some  being 
sent  to  the  Virginia  planters,  and  others  to  the 
Venetian  Government,  for  galley  slaves.  When 
the  Puritans  could  act  thus  toward  their  fellow- 
Englishmen,  and  toward  the  Scotch  Presbyterians 
who  were  so  nearly  of  their  own  creed,  there  is 
small  cause  for  wonder  in  the  treatment  afterward 
accorded  the  Irish.  It  was  a  merciless  age,  the 
age  of  Tilly  and  Wallenstein,  and  we  cannot  judge 
its  great  men  by  the  canons  of  to-day. 

'This  was  the  first  time  that  Cromwell  had 
actually  been  in  supreme  command  in  a  great 
victory,  and  too  much  praise  cannot  be  accorded 
him  for  his  hardihood,  energy,  and  skill.  The 
speed  of  his  motions  and  his  prompt  decision  had 
rendered  it  possible  for  him  to  strike  home  at  his 
adversary  in  the  flank,  and  to  eat  him  up  piece- 
meal. During  three  days  of  incessant  marching 
and  fighting  he  halted  only  to  do  battle  or  to 
take  the  rest  absolutely  needed;  and  at  the  end 
of  that  time  the  enemy's  foot  had  been  killed, 
captured,  or  dispersed  to  the  last  man,  and  his 
horse  was  a  beaten  rabble,  flying  toward  the 
border. 

The  battle  of  Preston  put  an  end  to  the  Second 
Civil  War.  Colchester  capitulated  to  Fairfax 
immediately  afterward.  The  part  of  the  fleet 
that  had  revolted  had  come  back  imder  Prince 


The  Second  Civil  War  125 

Charles  and  Rupert,  to  cooperate  with  the  risen 
Royalists,  but  could  do  nothing;  most  of  the 
ships  in  time  returned  to  their  allegiance  to  the 
Parliament.  The  indomitable  Rupert,  with  seven 
ships,  kept  the  sea  and  made  a  long  cruise,  which 
finally  degenerated  into  mere  buccaneering. 
Blake,  whom  the  Parliament  made  admiral, 
pursued  him,  captured  most  of  his  ships,  and 
finally  forced  him  to  take  refuge  in  France.  In 
Scotland,  Argyle  and  the  Presbyterian  ministers — 
the  Kirk  party — on  the  news  of  Hamilton's  over- 
throw, promptly  rose  in  the  so-called  Whigamore 
raid.  Mimro  fell  back,  plimdering  right  and  left 
until  he  crossed  the  border. 

Cromwell's  exertions  had  been  so  severe  that 
he  could  not  follow  the  flying  Royalists  with  his 
usual  rapidity.  The  army  had  been  long  without 
pay;  they  had  not  a  penny  with  which  to  get 
their  horses  shod,  and  so  many  horses  had  been 
slain  and  were  lamed  or  done  out  that  a  large 
number  of  the  troopers  were  on  foot,  and  the 
others  could  hardly  spur  their  jaded  moimts  into 
a  trot.  Munro  was  not  only  a  ruthless  plunderer, 
but  a  hard  fighter,  and  on  his  arrival  in  Scotland 
Argyle  felt  doubtful  as  to  his  capacity  to  cope 
with  him,  and  sent  to  Cromwell  for  assistance. 
Cromwell  promptly  invaded  Scotland,  being  care- 
ful to  pose  as  the  ally  of  Argyle  and  the  Kirk,  and 
therefore  the  true  friend  of  the  Scottish  nation. 


126  Oliver  Cromwell 

According  to  his  custom,  he  rigorously  sup- 
pressed plundering.  All  resistance  withered  away 
before  him.  He  was  received  at  Edinburgh  as 
a  powerful  and  honored  ally,  and  before  he  re- 
crossed  the  border  the  Scotch  were  again  avowed 
supporters,  for  the  time  being  at  least,  of  the  Par- 
liament. 

The  enemy  in  arms  had  been  defeated.  It 
remained  to  deal  with  the  Parliament  and  the 
Presbyterian  party.  Some  had  been  active  for 
the  King ;  most  had  been  lukewarm ;  the  victory 
had  been  a  victory  for  the  army,  and  therefore  for 
the  Independents.  Neither  Cromwell  nor  the 
army  was  of  a  temper  to  refrain  from  finishing 
matters.  Before  the  struggle  was  decided  Crom- 
well had  written  Fairfax:  '' I  pray  God  teach  this 
nation  and  those  that  are  over  us  .  .  .  what  the 
mind  of  God  may  be  in  all  this,  and  what  our 
duty  is.  Surely  it  is  not  that  the  poor,  godly 
people  of  this  Kingdom  should  still  be  made  the 
object  of  wrath  and  anger,  nor  that  our  God  would 
have  our  necks  imder  a  yoke  of  bondage.  For 
these  things  that  have  lately  come  to  pass  have 
been  the  wonderful  works  of  God,  breaking  the 
rod  of  the  oppressor." 

He  was  not  in  the  least  a  doctrinaire  Republican 
or  Parliamentarian;  he  believed  as  little  in  the 
divine  right  of  majorities  as  in  the  divine  right  of 
kings.     Neither  would  he  have  admitted  such  a 


The  Second  Civil  War  127 

right  as  existing  in  an  army,  or,  as  yet,  in  him- 
self. But  it  was  impossible  to  stand  still.  He 
had  to  act  with  some  party,  though  with  none  was 
he  in  entire  accord ;  for  one  was  hostile,  another 
hopelessly  undecided,  the  third  prone  to  extreme 
measures  and  representing  only  a  minority  in  the 
nation.  He  could  only  act  with  the  last,  and  yet 
this  meant  an  overturn  of  the  recognized  govern- 
mental authorities.  Whether  he  would  or  not, 
he  had  to  proceed  along  the  path  of  revolution. 

The  Presbyterians — the  men  who  controlled 
Parliament — were  halting  between  two  burdens. 
They  would  not  push  far  enough  against  the  King 
to  make  the  Revolution  a  success,  or  to  put  a 
permanent  end  to  despotism ;  and  they  would  not 
eat  their  past  words  and  deeds  by  turning  wholly 
to  his  support.  The  King  himself  was  obstinately 
bent  on  keeping  the  supreme  power  in  his  hands 
and  setting  the  people  imder  his  feet,  whatever  he 
might  promise ;  and  this  was  the  attitude  of  the 
large  Royalist  and  Episcopalian  party,  which  had 
showed,  in  supporting  him,  either  that  it  cared 
little  for  liberty  and  eagerly  championed  a  ser- 
vility which  it  misnamed  loyalty,  or  else  that 
it  feared  disorder  more  than  tyranny. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  determined  foes  of 
Absolutism,  the  armed  Independents,  were  even 
more  cut  off  from  the  bulk  of  the  nation  by  their 
good  qualities  than  by  their  shortcomings.     Their 


128  Oliver  Cromwell 

advocacy  of  toleration  for  every  creed,  their  desire 
for  legal  reform,  and  their  strong  democratic  ten- 
dencies, all  put  them  so  far  in  advance  of  the  rest 
of  the  nation  as  to  be  completely  out  of  touch 
with  it ;  and  they  offended  it  even  more  than  their 
harshness  and  narrowness,  and  the  behavior  of  the 
bands  of  fantastic  enthusiasts  in  their  ranks.  More- 
over, the  sincerity  of  their  convictions,  at  a  time 
when  the  practical  application  of  belief  in  the  rule 
of  the  majority  was  entirely  new  and  strange, 
drove  them  to  rely  on  their  strong  right  arms,  in- 
stead of  upon  the  votes  of  a  people  which  was 
mainly  hostile  or  apathetic.  When  Cromwell 
acted  with  them,  heedless  of  what  the  majority 
might  think,  he  was  making  ready  for  a  time  when 
he  might  choose  in  turn  to  disregard  the  majority 
within  their  own  ranks. 

Though  neither  Cromwell  nor  the  Independents 
believed  in  the  abstract  in  employing  the  army  as 
an  instrument  of  government,  they  were  face  to 
face  with  a  condition  of  affairs  in  which,  partly 
because  of  their  own  shortcomings,  but  very  much 
more  because  of  the  shortcomings  of  their  antago- 
nists, they  were  driven  to  adopt  this  as  the  only 
possible  course.  Doubtless  Cromwell  was  still  act- 
ing as  he  sincerely  believed  the  interests  of  the 
nation  demanded.  In  the  complex  tissue  of 
motives  which  go  to  determine  a  man's  deeds  it 
is  rarely  possible  to  say  that  there  is  not  some,  and 


The  Second  Civil  War  129 

mayhap  even  a  strong,  element  of  self-interest 
and  of  desire  for  personal  aggrandizement;  yet 
Cromwell's  conduct  toward  the  King  goes  to  show 
that  he  would  gladly  have  saved  him  had  not  the 
behavior  of  this  typical  Stuart  been  such  as  to 
render  it  impossible  for  an  upright  and  far-seeing 
friend  of  English  Hberty  longer  to  remain  his  ally. 
Parliament  had  no  sooner  been  relieved  by  the 
action  of  the  army  from  all  danger  from  the 
King's  adherents,  than  in  September  it  proceeded 
to  open  negotiations  with  the  King.  These  nego- 
tiations in  effect  aimed  at  the  destruction  of 
the  army  by  uniting  Parliament  and  King  against 
it;  among  other  things,  they  expressly  excluded 
any  toleration  for  the  sects  which  made  up  the 
strength  of  the  army.  It  would  have  been  inex- 
cusable folly  for  the  men  who  had  won  the  victory 
to  submit  to  such  action.  The  army,  headed  by 
Ireton,  demanded  a  purge  of  the  House  which 
would  rid  it  of  the  members  so  treacherous  to  the 
interests  of  the  nation,  Ireton  and  his  followers 
then  laid  before  Fairfax  a  remonstrance,  which 
included  a  demand  that  the  King  should  be 
brought  to  justice  for  the  ''  treason,"  "blood,"  and 
"mischief  "  of  which  he  had  been  guilty.  Fairfax 
opposed  this  and  carried  the  army  with  him  in 
favor  of  a  substitute  which  merely  requested  the 
King  to  assent  to  a  constitutional  plan  which 
would  have  limited  his  powers  precisely  as  those 
9 


I30  Oliver  Cromwell 

of  Queen  Victoria  are  now  limited,  and  would  have 
made  the  Constitution  of  England  what  it  now  is. 
A  more  moderate  proposal  was  never  made  by 
victorious  revolutionists,  and  it  shows  conclusively 
that  the  fault  was  not  with  Cromwell  and  his  fol- 
lowers when  they  were  forced  to  overturn  the 
King  and  the  Parliament.  But  Charles  promptly 
rejected  the  proposals  and  thereby  signed  his  own 
death-warrant.  He  had  just  sought,  in  Crom- 
well's words,  "to  vassalize  us  to  a  foreign  nation," 
and  now,  after  having  twice  plunged  England  into 
civil  war,  and  shown  himself  eager  to  submit  her 
to  the  power  of  the  alien,  he  obstinately  refused 
a  plan  which  would  not  merely  have  left  him  un- 
ptinished,  but  would  have  given  him  all  the  power 
of  a  constitutional  monarch;  a  power  greater 
than  that  which  the  House  of  Orange  at  that  time 
enjoyed  in  Holland. 

The  House  of  Commons  stood  firm  in  its  posi- 
tion, and  against  the  position  of  the  army,  which 
thereupon  marched  into  London ;  and  on  Decem- 
ber 6,  Colonel  Pride  carried  through  the  famous 
*'  Pride's  Purge."  He  stood  with  a  military  guard 
at  the  door  of  the  House,  and  turned  back  or 
arrested  the  members  who  had  voted  for  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  negotiations  with  the  King. 
This  was,  of  course,  a  purely  revolutionary 
measure,  with  no  warrant,  save  as  Ireton  and 
Harrison — the    Republican    generals — ^had    said, 


The  Second  Civil  War  131 

"the  height  of  necessity  to  save  the  Kingdom 
from  a  new  War."  It  was  but  the  second  step; 
the  all-important  one  had  been  taken  long  before, 
when  the  army  first  marched  into  London  to  see 
that  the  Parliament  did  its  Hking. 

Cromwell  still  strove  to  save  the  King's  life. 
Through  the  exertions  of  Ireton  a  small  majority 
of  the  army  coimcil  resolved  for  mercy,  and  made 
a  last  effort  to  conclude  a  treaty  with  the  King; 
but  the  King  would  not  hsten  to  them,  and  he 
thus  put  it  out  of  their  power  any  longer  to  delay 
his  fate.  On  January  i,  1649,  ^^^  House  of 
Commons  resolved  to  try  him  for  treason  to  the 
kingdom.  The  Lx)rds  refused  to  pass  the  ordi- 
nance, whereupon  the  House  of  Commons  decided 
to  disregard  them  and  to  act  on  its  own  authority. 
On  January  6  it  erected  a  High  Court  of  Justice 
for  the  trial  of  the  King,  on  the  grotmd  that  he  had 
wickedly  endeavored  to  subvert  the  people's 
rights,  had  levied  war  against  them,  and  when  he 
had  been  spared  had  again  raised  new  commo- 
tions in  order  to  enslave  and  destroy  the  nation. 
Cromwell  had  finally  thrown  his  doubts  to  the 
winds,  and  he  supported  the  resolution  with  all 
his  vigor.  When  the  legality  of  the  action  was 
questioned,  he  retorted:  "I  tell  you  we  will  cut 
off  his  head  with  the  crown  upon  it!"  The  grim 
Puritan  leaders  were  at  last  to  have  their  will  on 
**the  man  of  blood."     On  the  27th,  sentence  of 


132  Oliver  Cromwell 

death  was  passed  upon  the  King,  and  on  January 
30,  1649,  he  was  beheaded  on  the  scaffold  in  front 
of  Whitehall,  meeting  his  death  with  firm  dignity. 

Justice  was  certainly  done,  and  until  the  death 
penalty  is  abolished  for  all  malefactors,  we  need 
waste  scant  sympathy  on  the  man  who  so  hated 
the  upholders  of  freedom  that  his  vengeance 
against  Eliot  could  be  satisfied  only  with  Eliot's 
death;  who  so  utterly  lacked  loyalty  that  he 
signed  the  death-warrant  of  Strafford  when  Straf- 
ford had  merely  done  his  bidding ;  who  had  made 
the  blood  of  Englishmen  flow  like  water,  to  estab- 
lish his  right  to  rule  as  he  saw  best  over  their  lives 
and  property ;  and  who,  with  incurable  duplicity, 
incurable  double-dealing,  had  sought  to  turn  the 
generosity  of  his  victorious  foes  to  their  own  hurt. 

Any  man  who  has  ever  had  anything  to  do  with 
the  infliction  of  the  death  penalty,  or  indeed  with 
any  form  of  ptinishment,  knows  that  there  are  sen- 
timental beings  so  constituted  that  their  sympa- 
thies are  always  most  keenly  aroused  on  behalf  of 
the  offender  who  pays  the  penalty  for  a  deed  of 
peculiar  atrocity.  The  explanation  probably  is 
that  the  more  conspicuous  the  crime,  the  more 
their  attention  is  arrested,  and  the  more  acute 
their  manifestations  of  sympathy  become.  At 
the  time  when  the  great  bulk  even  of  civilized 
mankind  believed  in  the  right  of  a  king,  not 
merely  to  rule,  but  to  oppress,  the  action  of  the 


The  Second  Civil  War  133 

Puritans  struck  horror  throughout  Europe.  Even 
Republican  Holland  was  stirred  to  condemnation, 
and  as  the  King  was  the  symbol  of  the  State,  and 
as  custom  dies  hard,  generations  passed  during 
which  the  great  majority  of  good  and  loyal,  but 
not  particularly  far-sighted  or  deep-thinking  men, 
spoke  with  intense  sympathy  of  Charles,  and  with 
the  most  sincere  horror  of  the  regicides,  especially 
Cromwell.  This  feeling  was  most  natural  then. 
It  may  be  admitted  to  be  natural  in  certain  Eng- 
lishmen, even  at  the  present  day.  But  what  shall 
we  say  of  Americans  who  now  take  the  same  view ; 
who  erect  stained-glass  windows  in  a  Philadelphia 
church  to  the  memory  of  the  ''Royal  Martyr,"  or 
in  New  York  or  Boston  hold  absurd  festivals  in  his 
praise? 

The  best  men  in  England  approved  the  execu- 
tion of  the  King,  not  only  as  a  work  of  necessity, 
but  as  right  on  moral  f^oimds.  Two  weeks  after 
the  execution,  Milton — perhaps  the  loftiest  soul 
in  the  whole  Puritan  party,  full  though  it  was  of 
lofty  souls — wrote  his  pamphlet  justifying  the 
right  of  the  nation  to  depose,  or,  if  need  be,  exe- 
cute, tyrants  and  wicked  kings.  His  arguments 
never  have  been,  and  never  can  be,  successfully 
controverted  on  groimds  of  justice  and  morality. 
There  is  room  for  greater  question  on  the  grotmd 
of  expediency.  Some  of  the  ablest  historians  and 
politicians  have  argued  that  the  execution  was  a 


134  Oliver  Cromwell 

mistake,  as  making  the  King  a  martyr,  and  as 
transferring  to  his  son,  Charles  II.,  all  the  loyalty 
that  had  been  his,  while  the  hatred  and  distrust 
could  not  be  transferred.  Yet,  it  certainly  seems 
that  even  on  the  score  of  expediency,  Cromwell 
and  the  regicides  were  right  and  that  the  event 
justified  their  judgment.  While  Charles  was  alive 
there  could  have  been  no  peace  in  any  event ;  and 
during  Cromwell's  lifetime  Charles  II.  could  gain 
no  foothold  in  England — for  there  was  never  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Stuart  that  could  stand 
in  battle  or  in  council  before  the  stem  Lord  of  the 
English  Commonwealth.  If  in  later  years  great 
Oliver  could  only  have  managed  to  agree  with 
the  bulk  of  liberty-loving  Englishmen  on  some 
system  of  government  by  law,  it  is  not  probable 
that  the  memory  of  the  King's  death  would  have 
prevented  the  perpetuation  of  such  a  government. 
Carlyle's  mind  is  often  warped ;  his  vision  often 
dim ;  but  there  are  times  when  he  speaks  like  an 
inspired  seer,  and  never  more  so  than  when  dealing 
with  the  execution  of  the  Stuart  King:  "This 
action  of  the  English  Regicides  did  in  effect  strike 
a  damp-like  death  through  the  heart  of  Flimkyism 
tmiversally  in  this  world.  Whereof  Flunkyism, 
Cant,  Cloth- Worship,  or  whatever  ugly  name  it 
have,  has  gone  about  incurably  sick  ever  since; 
and  is  now  at  length,  in  these  generations,  very 
rapidly  dying.     The  like  of  which  action  will  not 


The  Second  Civil  War  135 

be  needed  for  a  thousand  years  again.  .  .  .  Thus 
ends  the  Second  Civil  War.  In  Regicide;  in  a 
Commonwealth,  and  Keepers  of  the  Liberties  of 
England.  In  punishment  of  delinquents;  in 
abolition  of  Cobwebs — if  it  be  possible  in  a  Gov- 
ernment of  Heroism  and  Veracity;  at  lowest  of 
Anti-Flunkyism,  Anti-Cant,  and  the  endeavor  after 
Heroism  and  Veracity." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    IRISH    AND    SCOTCH    WARS. 

THE  successful  Revolutionary  party  now 
enacted  that  the  people  of  England  and 
of  all  the  dominions  and  territories  there- 
unto belonging  were  constituted  and  established 
as  a  Commonwealth,  or  Free  State,  to  be  governed 
by  the  representatives  of  the  people  in  Parliament 
and  by  whomsoever  the  Parliament  should  ap- 
point as  officers  and  ministers ;  the  King  and  the 
House  of  Lords  being  both  abolished.  No  provi- 
sion was  at  first  made  by  which  any  man  should 
lawfully  be  recognized  as  chief  in  the  new  Com- 
monwealth; but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  there  was 
one  man,  and  one  man  only,  who  had  to  be 
acknowledged,  however  tmwillingly,  as  master 
and  leader.  There  were  many  upright  and  able 
civil  servants;  many  high-minded  and  fervent 
reformers;  many  grim  and  good  captains:  but 
waist-high  above  them  all  rose  the  mighty  and 
strenuous  figure  of  Oliver  Cromwell.  It  may 
well  be  that,  hitherto,  personal  ambition  had 
played  an  entirely  subordinate  part  in  all  his 
actions.  Now,  in  the  turmoil  of  the  Revolution, 
in  the  whirlpool  of  currents  which  none  but  the 
strongest  man  could  breast,  he  became  ever  more 

136 


The  Irish  and  Scotch  Wars        137 

and  more  conscious  of  his  own  great  powers — 
powers  which  he  knew  were  shared  by  no  other 
man.  With  the  sense  of  power  came  the  over- 
mastering desire  to  seize  and  wield  it. 

The  first  thing  he  had  to  do  was  to  stop  the 
Revolution  where  it  was.  In  every  such  Revo- 
lution some  of  the  original  adherents  of  the  move- 
ment drop  off  at  each  stage,  feeling  that  it  has 
gone  too  far;  and  at  every  halt  the  extremists  in- 
sist on  further  progress.  As  stage  succeeds  stage, 
these  extremists  become  a  constantly  diminishing 
body,  and  the  irritation  and  alarm  of  the  growing 
remainder  increase.  If  the  movement  is  not 
checked  at  the  right  moment  by  the  good  sense 
and  moderation  of  the  people  themselves,  or  if 
some  master-spirit  does  not  appear,  the  extremists 
carry  it  ever  farther  forward  until  it  provokes  the 
most  violent  reaction ;  and  when  the  master-spirit 
does  stop  it,  he  has  to  guard  against  both  the  men 
who  think  it  has  gone  too  far,  and  the  men  who 
think  it  has  not  gone  far  enough. 

The  extreme  Levellers,  the  extreme  Republi- 
cans, and,  above  all,  the  fierce  and  moody  fanatics 
who  sought  after  an  impossible,  and  for  the 
matter  of  that  a  highly  imdesirable,  realization  of 
their  ideal  of  God's  kingdom  on  this  earth — all 
these,  together  with  the  mere  men  of  imsettled 
minds  and  the  believers  in  what  we  now  call  com- 
munism,   socialism,    and   nihilism,    were    darkly 


138  Oliver  Cromwell 

threatening  the  new  government.  Men  arose 
who  called  themselves  prophets  of  new  social 
and  religious  dispensations;  and  every  wild 
theory  foimd  its  fanatic  advocates,  ready  at 
any  moment  to  turn  from  advocacy  to  action.  In 
the  name  of  political  and  social  liberty,  some 
demanded  that  all  men  should  be  made  free  and 
equal  by  abolishing  money  and  houses,  living  in 
tents,  and  dividing  all  food  and  clothing  alike. 
In  the  name  of  religious  reform  others  took  to 
riding  naked  in  the  market-place,  "for  a  sign"; 
to  shouting  for  the  advent  of  King  Jesus;  or  to 
breaking  up  church  services  by  noisy  controver- 
sies with  the  preachers.  The  extreme  Anabaptist 
and  Quaker  agitators  were  overshadowed  by  fan- 
tastic figures  whose  followers  hailed  them  as  in- 
carnations of  the  Most  High. 

Black  trouble  gloomed  without.  The  Com- 
monwealth had  not  a  friend  in  Europe.  In  the 
British  Isles  Scotland  declared  for  Charles  II.  as 
the  King,  not  only  of  Scotland,  but  of  Great 
Britain.  In  Ireland  but  a  couple  of  towns  were 
held  for  the  Parliament. 

It  was  to  the  reconquest  of  Ireland  that  the 
Commonwealth  first  addressed  itself,  and  naturally 
Cromwell  was  chosen  for  the  work.  He  was 
given  the  rank  of  Lieutenant-General ;  but  before 
he  started  he  had  to  deal  with  dangerous  mutinies 
and  uprisings  in  the  army.     The   religious  sec- 


The  Irish  and  Scotch  Wars        139 

taries  and  political  levellers,  who  had  given  to  the 
army  the  fiery  zeal  that  made  it  irresistible  by 
Parliament  or  King,  English  Royalists  or  Scotch 
Covenanter,  had  also  been  infected  with  a  spirit 
peculiarly  liable  to  catch  flame  from  such  agita- 
tions as  were  going  on  roundabout.  Here  and 
there,  in  regiment  after  regiment,  were  sudden 
upliftings  of  the  banner  of  revolt  in  the  name  of 
every  kind  of  htmian  freedom,  and  often  of  some 
fierce  religious  doctrine  quite  incompatible  with 
human  freedom.  Cromwell  acted  with  his  usual 
terrible  energy,  scattered  the  mutineers,  shot  the 
ringleaders,  and  reduced  army  and  kingdom  alike 
to  obedience  and  order.  Then  he  made  ready  for 
the  invasion  of  Ireland. 

The  predominant  motives  for  the  various  muti- 
nies in  the  army,  offer  sufficient  proof  of  its  utter 
unlikeness  to  any  other  army.  At  the  outset  of 
the  civil  wars  the  Ironsides  were  simply  volun- 
teers of  the  very  highest  type ;  not  wholly  imlike, 
at  least  in  moral  qualities,  some  of  those  belated 
CromwelHans — the  Boers  of  to-day.  They  did  not 
take  up  soldiering  as  a  profession,  but  primarily  to 
achieve  certain  definite  moral  objects.  Of  course, 
as  the  force  gradually  grew  into  a  permanent  body, 
it  changed  in  some  respects;  but  the  old  spirit 
remained  strong.  The  soldiers  became  in  a  sense 
regulars;  but  they  bore  no  resemblance  to  regu- 
lars of  the  ordinary  type — to  regulars  such  as 


I40  Oliver  Cromwell 

served  under  Turenne  or  Marlborough,  Frederick 
the  Great  or  Wellington.  If  in  Grant's  army 
a  very  large  number  of  the  men,  including  almost 
all  the  forceful,  natural  leaders,  had  been  of  the 
stamp  of  Ossawatomie  Brown,  we  should  have 
had  an  army  much  like  Cromwell's.  Such  an 
army  might  usually  be  a  power  for  good  and 
sometimes  a  power  for  evil;  but  xmder  all  cir- 
cumstances, when  controlled  by  a  master  hand, 
it  was  certain  to  show  itself  one  of  the  most  for- 
midable weapons  ever  forged  in  the  workshop  of 
human  passion  and  purpose. 

Matters  in  Ireland  were  in  a  perfect  welter  of 
confusion.  Eight  years  had  elapsed  since  the 
original  rising  of  the  native  Irish.  A  murderous 
and  butcherly  warfare  had  been  carried  on 
throughout  these  years,  but  not  along  the  lines  of 
original  division.  On  the  contrary,  when  Crom- 
well landed,  there  had  been  a  complete  shifting 
of  the  parties  to  the  contest,  every  faction  having 
in  turn  fought  every  other  faction,  and,  more 
extraordinary  still,  having  at  some  time  or  other 
joined  its  religious  foes  in  attacking  a  rival  faction 
of  its  own  creed.  The  original  rising  was  in 
Ulster,  and  was  aimed  at  the  English  and  Scotch 
settlers  who  had  been  planted  under  James  in  the 
lands  from  which  the  Irish  had  been  evicted. 
These  "plantations"  imder  James,  not  to  speak 
of  the  scourge  of  Went  worth  imder  Charles,  were 


The  Irish  and  Scotch  Wars        141 

on  a  par  with  the  whole  conduct  of  the  English 
toward  Ireland  for  generations,  and  gave  as  ample 
a  justification  for  the  uprising  as  in  the  Nether- 
lands the  Spaniards  had  given  the  Dutch.  From 
the  standpoint  of  the  Irish,  the  war  was  simply 
the  most  righteous  of  wars — for  hearthstone,  for 
Church,  and  for  coimtry. 

This  first  uprising  was  one  of  Celtic  Catholics. 
In  the  Pale  and  elsewhere,  here  and  there  through- 
out Ireland,  were  large  numbers  of  Old-EngHsh 
Catholics;  these,  imlike  the  Celts,  did  not  wish 
separation  from  England,  but  did  wish  complete 
religious  liberty  for  themselves,  and,  if  possible, 
Catholic  supremacy.  The  Episcopalian  and  Roy- 
alist English  throughout  Ireland,  imder  the  lead 
of  the  Earl  of  Ormond,  favored  the  King.  The 
Puritan  oligarchy  of  Dublin  favored  the  Parlia- 
ment, and  were  in  touch  with  the  Scotch  Presby- 
terians of  Ulster.  The  rising  began  to  spread 
from  Ulster  southward.  The  Catholics  of  the 
Pale  were  at  first  loyal  to  the  King,  but  the  Prot- 
estant leaders,  in  striking  back  at  the  insurgents, 
harried  friend  and  foe  alike,  imtil  the  Pale  joined 
with  Ulster.  After  this,  all  Ireland  revolted. 
Only  a  few  fortified  and  garrisoned  towns  were 
held  for  the  English. 

Violent  alterations  of  policy  and  of  fortime 
followed.  Under  the  lead  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
clergy  the  revolt  was  consolidated.     Unswerving 


H2  Oliver  Cromwell 

loyalty  to  the  King  was  proclaimed,  war  was  de- 
noimced  against  the  Puritans,  and  the  reestablish- 
ment  of  Roman  Catholicism  as  the  state  religion 
of  Ireland  was  demanded.  On  the  Puritan  side 
the  lords  justices  in  Dublin  nominally  acknowl- 
edged the  King's  authority,  but  really  stood  for 
the  Parliament  and  hampered  Ormond,  who, 
while  a  stanch  Protestant,  was  an  ardent  Royalist. 
Ormond  gained  one  or  two  victories  over  the 
insurgents  in  spite  of  the  way  in  which  the  lords 
justices  interfered  with  him.  Charles  created  him 
marquis,  and  he  took  command  of  the  English 
interest,  drove  out  the  lords  justices,  and  con- 
cluded a  truce  for  one  year  with  the  Catholic 
party,  in  September,  1643.  They  gave  Charles  a 
free  contribution  of  ;^3 0,000,  and  sent  over  some 
Irish  troops  to  aid  Montrose  and  the  other  Roy- 
alist leaders  in  Scotland,  besides  setting  Ormond 
free  to  transfer  part  of  his  forces  to  the  King  in 
England.  But  Mimro  and  the  Ulster  Scotch 
refused  to  recognize  the  armistice,  took  the  Cove- 
nant, and  declared  against  the  King;  while,  in 
the  south,  certain  Protestant  sea-coast  towns, 
under  the  lead  of  Lord  Inchiquin,  followed  suit 
and  acknowledged  the  Parliament.  Months  of 
tortuous  negotiations  followed.  King  Charles 
showing  the  same  readiness  in  promise,  and  utter 
indifference  in  performance,  while  dealing  with 
the  Irish  as  while  dealing  with  the  English.    The 


The  Irish  and  Scotch  Wars        143 

treachery  of  the  King  was  made  manifest  by  the 
discovery  of  his  secret  treaty  with  the  Irish,  when 
Sligo  was  captured. 

Meanwhile,  the  Papal  nimcio,  an  Italian,  had 
arrived,  and  exhorted  the  Irish  to  refuse  any  peace 
with  the  King  except  on  the  basis  of  the  complete 
reinstatement  of  the  Catholic  Church.  He  roused 
what  would  now  be  called  the  Ultramontanes 
against  the  moderate  Catholic  party  which  was 
acting  with  Ormond.  Their  wrangles  caused  a 
fatal  delay,  for  by  the  time  the  moderates  tri- 
umphed the  King  had  been  made  a  prisoner. 
Their  treaty  of  peace  with  the  King  was  not 
signed  till  September,  1645,  and  it  amoimted  to 
nothing,  for  the  adherents  of  the  Parliament  re- 
jected it  on  the  one  side,  and  the  extreme  Catholic 
party,  the  utterly  intolerant  and  fanatical  Catho- 
lics, imder  the  nimcio,  refused  to  be  boimd  by  it 
on  the  other.  In  the  north  the  Irish  were  led  by 
Owen  O'Neil,  a  member  of  the  great  Ulster  house 
of  that  name,  and  under  him  they  had  beaten 
Mimro  and  the  Scotch.  He  now  hurried  to  the 
support  of  the  ntmcio.  The  moderate  Catholic 
leaders  and  Ormond  fled  to  Dublin  at  his  ap- 
proach, and  he  was  joined,  after  some  hesitation, 
by  Preston,  the  leader  of  the  Irish  forces  in  the 
south.  In  1647,  Ormond,  at  his  wits'  end, 
handed  over  Dublin  to  the  agents  of  the  Parlia- 
ment, and  joined  the  Royalist  refugees  in  France. 


144  Oliver  Cromwell 

This  for  a  moment  eliminated  the  Royalists, 
and  left  the  party  of  the  ntmcio,  the  party  of  the 
bigots  and  intolerant  extremists,  supreme  among 
the  Irish.  But  when  Jones,  the  Puritan  leader, 
marched  out  of  Dublin,  and  defeated  Preston, 
while  in  the  south  Lord  Inchiquin  won  some 
butchering  victories,  the  party  of  the  moderates 
again  raised  its  head.  Then  there  was  a  new  and 
bewildering  turn  of  the  kaleidoscope.  Inchiquin 
suddenly  became  offended  with  the  Parliament, 
made  overtures  to  Preston,  and  then  to  Ormond. 
A  coalition  was  formed  between  the  Royalist 
Protestants  in  Mimster  and  the  moderate  Catho- 
lics. The  ntmcio  threatened  the  moderates  with 
excommunication  and  interdict,  and  fled  to 
O'Neil's  camp.  Preston  and  Inchiquin  joined 
forces  and  marched  against  O'Neil,  so  that  civil 
war  broke  out  among  the  insurgents  them- 
selves. 

Colonel  Jones,  the  victor  over  Preston,  felt 
doubtful  of  his  own  troops,  who  included  a  num- 
ber of  Royalists,  and,  extraordinary  to  relate,  he 
actually  made  terms  with  the  nuncio  and  O'Neil 
as  against  the  Protestant  Royalists  and  moderate 
Catholics — the  Ultramontanes  so  hating  the  mod- 
erate Catholics  that  they  preferred  to  come  to 
terms  with  the  Puritans.  Ormond  now  came  over 
from  France  to  head  the  moderates,  the  party  of 
the  Royalist  Catholics  and  Protestants.     Peace 


The  Irish  and  Scotch  Wars        145 

was  declared  between  Ormond  and  the  Supreme 
Council  of  Dublin  in  the  King's  name. 

But  hardly  had  peace  been  declared  when  news 
arrived  of  the  King's  execution.  Ormond  pro- 
claimed Charles  II.,  at  Cork;  most  of  the  Irish 
outside  of  Ulster  imited  tmder  him,  and  Mimro 
and  the  Scotch  Presbyterians  joined  him.  The 
nuncio  fled  the  coimtry  in  despair.  The  rupture 
between  the  Presbyterians  and  Independents  was 
complete,  and  the  Scotch  became  the  open  enemies 
of  the  English.  They  began  the  siege  of  Deny, 
which  Coote  held  for  the  Parliament.  At  the 
same  time  they  confronted  O'Neil  and  the  Ulster 
Irish,  who  were  acting  in  alliance  with  Monk, 
who  held  Dimdalk  for  the  Parliament  by  order  of 
Colonel  Jones.  Inchiquin  captured  Drogheda 
for  the  Confederates.  Monk's  garrison  mutinied, 
and  he  had  to  surrender  Dimdalk.  Ormond 
began  the  siege  of  Dublin,  but  was  routed  by 
Jones,  one  of  the  sturdiest  of  the  many  sturdy 
Puritan  fighters.  Meanwhile,  the  Puritan  Parlia- 
ment had  disavowed  the  alliance  with  O'Neil  and 
the  Ulster  Irish,  and  the  latter  were  thus  forced 
into  the  arms  of  Ormond,  who  foimd  himself  at 
the  head  of  all  the  Irish  and  English  Catholics, 
of  the  Scotch  Presbyterians  in  Ulster,  and  of  the 
Royalist  Protestants  elsewhere  in  Ireland.  It  was 
at  this  time  that  Cromwell  landed. 

The  exact  condition  of  affairs  in  Ireland  should 
10 


146  Oliver  Cromwell 

be  carefully  borne  in  mind,  because  it  is  often 
alleged,  in  excuse  of  Cromwell's  merciless  massa- 
cres, that  he  was  acting  with  the  same  justification 
that  the  English  had  when  they  put  down  the 
Indian  Mutiny  with  righteous  and  proper  severity. 
Without  a  doubt,  Cromwell  and  most  Englishmen 
felt  this  way;  and  in  the  case  of  the  average 
Englishman,  who  could  not  be  expected  to  imder- 
stand  the  faction-fighting,  the  feeling  was  justi- 
fiable. But  it  was  Cromwell's  business  to  know 
what  the  parties  had  been  doing.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  the  wrong  of  the  original  Ulster  massacre, 
which  itself  avenged  prior  wrongs  by  the  invaders, 
had  been  overlaid  by  cotmtless  other  massacres 
committed  by  English  and  Irish  alike,  during  the 
intervening  years;  and  the  very  men  against 
whom  this  original  wrong  had  been  committed 
were  now  fighting  side  by  side  with  the  wrong- 
doers, against  Cromwell  and  the  Puritans.  More- 
over, for  some  time  the  Parliamentarians  had 
been  in  close  alliance  with  these  same  wrong- 
doers against  the  moderate  Irish,  who  were  not 
implicated  in  the  massacres  in  question,  and 
against  the  Royalist  Protestants,  some  of  whom 
had  suffered  from  the  massacres  and  others  of 
whom  had  helped  avenge  them.  The  troops 
against  whom  Cromwell  was  to  fight  were  in  part 
Protestant  and  English,  these  being  mixed  in  with 
the  Catholics  and  Irish;  and  at  the  moment  the 


The  Irish  and  Scotch  Wars        147 

chief  Royalist  leaders  in  Ireland  included  quite  as 
many  English,  Scotch,  and  Irish  Protestants,  as 
they  did  Irish  Catholics. 

Cromwell  recked  but  little  of  nice  distinctions 
between  the  different  stripes  of  Royalists  and 
Catholics  when,  in  August,  1649,  he  landed  in 
Dublin,  the  only  place  in  Ireland,  save  Deny, 
which  still  held  out  for  the  Pariiament.  He 
brought  with  him  the  pick  of  his  troops  and  soon 
had  at  Dublin  some  10,000  foot  and  5,000  horse. 
They  were  excellently  disciplined;  they  included 
the  Ironsides,  the  veterans  of  the  New  Model — 
grim  Puritans  for  the  most  part,  inflamed  with 
the  most  bitter  hatred  against  CathoHcs,  Irish,  and 
Royalists.  They  had  been  welded  into  one  for- 
midable mass  by  Cromwell's  rigid  discipline,  and 
yet  were  all  aflame  with  religious  and  political 
enthusiasm.  There  could  not  be  gathered  in  all 
Ireland  an  army  capable  of  meeting  in  the  open 
field  that  iron  soldiery,  under  such  a  leader  as 
Cromwell ;  and  this  the  Irish  chiefs  well  knew. 

Cromwell,  therefore,  had  to  deal  with  a  nume- 
rous and  individually  brave  but  badly  disciplined 
enemy,  formidable  in  guerilla  warfare,  because 
theirs  was  a  wild  cotmtry  of  mountain  and  bog, 
and  resolute  in  defense  of  their  walled  towns,  but 
not  otherwise  to  be  feared  by  such  troops  as  the 
Ironsides.  His  first  care  was  to  put  an  end  to  the 
plundering  and  licentiousness  which  had  hitherto 


148  Oliver  Cromwell 

marked  the  English  no  less  than  the  Irish  armies. 
He  completely  stopped  outrages  upon  the  peas- 
antry and  non-combatants  generally,  besides  pro- 
tecting all  who  lived  quietly  in  their  homes. 

In  September  he  marched  against  Drogheda, 
into  which  Ormond  had  thrown  3,000  picked 
men,  largely  English,  tmder  Sir  Arthur  Aston. 
Cromwell  had  with  him  some  8,000  men  when 
he  sat  down  to  attack  it.  He  brought  up  a  siege- 
train,  beating  back  the  sallies  of  the  garrison  with 
ease,  and  meanwhile  maintaining  his  strict  disci- 
pline, and  putting  down  pillage  by  the  summary 
process  of  hanging  the  plunderers. 

When  his  batteries  were  ready  he  summoned 
the  Governor  to  surrender,  but  the  simimons  was 
refused.  For  two  days  the  gtins  kept  up  their 
fire,  and  then  in  the  afternoon  the  assault  was 
delivered.  The  defenders  met  the  stormers  in  the 
breaches ;  the  fight  was  hot  and  stiff ;  the  English 
were  once  repulsed,  but  came  forward  again  and 
carried  the  breach  only  to  be  once  more  driven 
out  by  a  fierce  rally. 

When  Cromwell  saw  his  men  driven  down  the 
breach,  he  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the 
reserve,  and  in  person  led  it  with  the  rallied  men 
of  the  broken  regiments,  back  to  the  breach. 
This  time  the  stormers  would  not  be  denied. 
They  carried  the  breach,  the  church — which  was 
strongly  held  by  the  Irish — and  finally  the  paH- 


The  Irish  and  Scotch  Wars        149 

saded  intrenchments  of  Mill  Mount,  in  which  Sir 
Arthur  Aston  had  taken  refuge.  The  horse  fol- 
lowed close  behind  the  foot,  and  speedily  cleared 
the  streets  of  the  hostile  cavalry  and  infantry. 
The  victorious  Puritans  pressed  on  and  a  terrible 
slaughter  followed.  Cromwell  forbade  them  to 
spare  any  that  were  in  arms  in  the  town,  and  they 
put  to  the  sword  over  2,000  men.  Nearly  1,000 
were  killed  in  the  great  Church  of  St.  Peter's. 
"All  the  priests  foimd,"  says  Cromwell,  **were 
knocked  on  the  head  promiscuously  but  two, 
both  of  whom  were  killed  next  day."  Sir  Arthur 
Aston,  Vemey,  the  son  of  the  King's  standard- 
bearer  at  Edgehill,  and  all  the  officers  were  put 
to  the  sword.  Two  towers  held  out  \mtil  next 
day,  when  they  submitted;  their  officers  were 
"knocked  on  the  head,"  says  Cromwell.  One 
tower  fought  hard ;  there  every  tenth  man  of  the 
soldiers  was  killed;  the  rest,  and  all  the  soldiers 
in  the  other  tower,  were  shipped  to  the  white 
slavery  of  the  Barbadoes.  Of  the  assailants, 
about  a  hundred  were  slain  and  several  hundred 
wounded. 

Said  Cromwell:  **We  put  to  the  sword  the 
whole  number  of  the  defendants.  .  .  .  This  hath 
been  a  marvellous  great  mercy.  I  wish  that  all 
honest  hearts  may  give  glory  of  this  to  God 
alone,  to  whom  indeed  the  praise  of  this  mercy 
belongs.  ...  I    am   persuaded   that   this   is   a 


I50  Oliver  Cromwell 

righteous  judgment  of  God  upon  these  barbarous 
wretches  who  have  imbrued  their  hands  in  so 
much  innocent  blood,  and  that  it  will  tend  to 
prevent  the  effusion  of  blood  for  the  future,  which 
are  the  satisfactory  grounds  to  such  actions,  which 
otherwise  cannot  but  work  remorse  and  regret. 
The  officers  and  soldiers  of  this  garrison  were  the 
flower  of  their  army." 

Cromwell's  defenders  say  simply  that  he  acted 
from  a  fervent  belief  in  the  righteousness  of  what 
he  was  doing,  and,  further,  that  the  terrible  ven- 
geance he  took  here  and  at  Wexford  upon  all 
who  withstood  him  in  arms  cowed  the  Irish  and 
prevented  further  resistance.  Neither  defense  is 
tenable.  If  on  the  grotmd  of  their  sincerity  the 
deeds  of  Cromwell  and  his  soldiers  at  Drogheda 
and  Wexford  can  be  defended,  then  we  cannot 
refuse  the  same  defense  to  Philip  and  Alva  and 
their  soldiers  in  the  Netherlands.  Of  course,  we 
must  always  remember  that  under  Cromwell 
there  was  no  burning  at  the  stake,  no  dreadful 
torture  in  cold  blood ;  and,  therefore,  at  his  worst, 
he  rises  in  degree  above  Philip  and  Alva.  But 
in  kind,  his  deeds  in  Ireland  were  the  same  as 
theirs  in  the  Netherlands;  and  though  the  Puri- 
tan soldiers  were  guiltless  of  the  hideous  licen- 
tiousness shown  by  the  Spaniards,  or  by  the 
armies  of  Tilly  and  Wallenstein,  yet  the  merci- 
less butchery  of  the  entire  garrisons  and  of  all  the 


The  Irish  and  Scotch  Wars        151 

priests — accompanied  by  the  slaughter  of  other 
non-combatants,  in  at  least  some  cases — leave 
Drogheda  and  Wexford  as  black  and  terrible 
stains  on  Cromwell's  character.  Nor  is  there  any 
justification  for  them  on  the  groimd  that  they  put 
a  stop  to  resistance.  The  war  Imgered  on  for 
two  or  three  years  in  spite  of  them ;  and  in  any 
event  the  outcome  was  inevitable.  It  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  hastened  in  any  way  by  this 
display  of  savagery.  There  had  been  many  such 
butcheries  during  the  war,  before  Cromwell  came 
to  Ireland,  without  in  any  way  hastening  the 
end.  Cromwell  and  his  lieutenants  put  down  the 
insurrection  and  established  order  because  they 
gained  such  sweeping  victories,  not  because  Crom- 
well made  merciless  use  of  his  first  victories.  It 
was  the  fighting  of  the  Puritan  troops  in  the 
battle  itself  which  won,  and  not  their  ferocity  after 
the  battle;  and  it  was  Cromwell  who  not  merely 
gave  free  rein  to  this  ferocity,  but  inspired  it. 
Seemingly  quarter  would  have  been  freely  given 
had  it  not  been  for  his  commands.  Neither  in 
morals  nor  in  policy  were  these  slaughters  justifi- 
able. Moreover,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
men  slaughtered  were  entirely  guiltless  of  the 
original  massacres  in  Ulster. 

Immediately  after  Drogheda,  Cromwell  sent 
forces  to  Dimdalk,  which  was  held  by  the  Irish, 
and  to  Trim,  which  was  held  by  the  Scotch ;  but 


152  Oliver  Cromwell 

the  garrisons  deserted  both  places  at  the  approach 
of  the  Cromwellians.  In  October,  Cromwell  him- 
self advanced  on  Wexford  and  stormed  the  town. 
Very  little  resistance  was  made,  but  some  2,000 
of  the  defenders  were  put  to  the  sword.  This 
time  the  soldiers  needed  no  order  with  reference 
to  refusing  quarter;  they  acted  of  their  own 
accord,  and  many  of  the  townspeople  suffered 
with  the  garrison.  Practically,  the  town  was  de- 
populated, not  one  in  twenty  of  the  inhabitants 
being  left. 

Then  Cromwell  moved  to  Ross.  In  spite  of 
the  slaughter  which  he  made  in  the  towns  he 
stormed,  he  exercised  such  strict  discipline  over 
his  army  in  the  field,  and  paid  with  such  rigid 
punctuality  for  all  supplies  which  the  coimtry 
people  brought  in,  that  they  flocked  to  him  as 
they  feared  to  do  to  their  own  armies,  and  in  con- 
sequence his  troops  were  better  fed  and  able  to 
march  more  rapidly  than  was  the  case  with  the 
Irish.  He  soon  took  Ross,  allowing  the  garrison 
to  march  out  with  the  honors  of  war,  and  gave 
protection  to  the  inhabitants.  When  asked  to 
guarantee  freedom  of  religion  he  responded: 
"For  that  which  you  mention  concerning  liberty 
of  conscience,  I  meddle  not  with  any  man's  con- 
science. But,  if  by  liberty  of  conscience,  you 
mean  liberty  to  exercise  the  mass,  I  judge  it  best 
to  use  plain  dealing,  and  to  let  you  know,  where 


The  Irish  and  Scotch  Wars        153 

the  Parliament  of  England  have  power,  that  will 
not  be  allowed  of." 

Three  months  after  he  landed,  Cromwell  had 
possession  of  almost  all  the  eastern  coast.  One 
of  the  remarkable  featiires  of  his  campaign  had 
been  the  way  in  which  he  had  used  the  army  and 
the  fleet  in  combination.  He  used  his  admirals 
just  as  he  had  used  his  generals  and  colonels,  and 
they  played  a  very  important  part  in  the  opera- 
tions against  Wexford  and  Ross,  and  in  securing 
the  surrender  of  both.  When  he  moved  away 
from  the  coast  his  task  was  very  difficult ;  there 
were  no  roads,  the  coimtry  had  been  harried  into 
a  wilderness,  and  was  studded  with  castles  and 
fortified  towns,  every  one  held  by  an  Irish  garri- 
son. Ormond  and  0*Neil  were  in  the  field  with 
a  more  nimierous  force  than  his ;  and  though  they 
dared  not  fight  a  pitched  battle,  they  threatened 
his  detachments.  The  service  was  very  wearing, 
and  in  December  Cromwell  went  into  winter 
quarters,  the  weather  being  bad,  and  his  men 
decimated  by  fever.  The  triumphs  won  by  his 
terrible  soldiership  rendered  the  conquest  of  the 
whole  island  only  a  question  of  time. 

Having  now  a  little  leisure,  Cromwell  pub- 
lished, for  the  benefit  of  the  Irish,  a  ''Declara- 
tion,*' as  an  answer  to  a  polemic  issued  in  form  of 
a  manifesto  at  Kilkenny  by  the  high  Irish  eccle- 
siastics.     In    this   Declaration,    which    is    very 


154  Oliver  Cromwell 

curious  reading,  he  exhorted  the  Irish  to  submit, 
and  answered  at  great  length  the  arguments  of 
their  religious  leaders,  with  all  the  zeal,  ingenuity, 
and  acrimony  of  an  eager  theological  disputant, 
and  with  an  evident  and  burning  sincerity  to  which 
many  theological  disputants  do  not  attain.  The 
religious  side  of  his  campaigns  was  always  very 
strong  in  his  mind,  and  no  Puritan  preacher  more 
dearly  loved  setting  forth  the  justification  of  his 
religious  views,  or  answering  the  argtiments  of  his 
religious  opponents,  whether  Catholics  or  Cove- 
nanters. 

So  far  as  Puritanism  was  based  upon  a  literal 
following  of  the  example  set  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, it  had  a  very  dark,  as  well  as  a  very  exalted 
side.  To  take  the  inhuman  butcheries  of  the 
early  Jews  as  grateful  to  Jehovah,  and  therefore 
as  justification  for  similar  conduct  by  Christians, 
could  lead  only  to  deeds  of  horror.  When  Crom- 
well wrote  from  Cork,  justifying  the  Puritan  zeal 
which  he  admitted  could  not  be  justified  by 
"  reason  if  called  before  a  jury,"  he  appealed  to  the 
case  of  Phineas,  who  was  held  to  have  done  the 
work  of  the  Ix>rd,  because  he  thrust  through  the 
belly  with  his  javelin  the  wretched  Midianitish 
woman.  No  such  plea  can  be  admitted  on  behalf 
of  peoples  who  have  passed  the  stage  of  mere 
barbarism. 

Drogheda  and  Wexford  could  not  be  excused 


The  Irish  and  Scotch  Wars        155 

by  pointing  out  that  the  priests  of  the  Jews  of  old 
had  held  it  grateful  to  the  Lord  to  kill  without 
mercy  the  miserable  women  and  children  of  the 
tribes  whom  the  IsraeHtes  drove  from  the  land. 
Such  a  position  was  in  accord  with  the  medieval 
side  of  Cromwell's  character,  but  was  utterly  out 
of  touch  with  his  thoroughly  modem  belief  in 
justice  and  freedom  for  all  men.  Queer  contra- 
dictions appear  in  the  above-mentioned  "  Declara- 
tion," written,  as  he  phrased  it,  "For  the  imde- 
ceiving  of  deluded  and  seduced  people."  He 
showed  that  he  was  a  leader  in  the  modem  move- 
ment for  social,  political,  and  religious  liberty, 
when  he  wrote:  "Arbitrary  power  men  begin  to 
grow  weary  of,  in  Kings  and  Churchmen;  their 
juggle  between  them  mutually  to  uphold  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  tyranny  begins  to  be  trans- 
parent. Some  have  cast  off  both;  and  hope  by 
the  Grace  of  God  to  keep  so.  Others  are  at  it.** 
But  when  he  came  to  reconcile  his  own  declara- 
tions for  religious  liberty  with  his  previous  refusal 
to  permit  the  celebration  of  the  mass,  he  was 
forced  into  a  purely  technical  justification  of  his 
position.  He  announced  that  he  would  ptmish, 
with  all  the  severity  of  the  law,  priests  "seducing 
the  people,  or,  by  any  overt  act,  violating  the 
laws  established,"  but  added:  "As  for  the  people 
what  thoughts  they  have  in  matters  of  religion  in 
their  own  breasts,  I  cannot  reach ;  but  shall  think 


156  Oliver  Cromwell 

it  my  duty,  if  they  walk  honestly  and  peaceably, 
not  to  cause  them  in  the  least  to  suffer  for  the 
same."  In  other  words,  Catholics  could  believe 
what  they  wished,  but  were  not  allowed  to  profess 
their  beliefs  in  the  form  that  they  desired,  or  to 
have  their  teachers  among  them.  To  our  Amer- 
ican eyes  such  a  position  is  so  wholly  untenable, 
so  shocking  to  the  moral  sense,  that  it  requires 
an  effort  to  remember  that  it  was  in  advance  of 
the  position  taken  in  the  next  century  by  the 
English  toward  the  Irish  through  their  Penal 
Laws,  and  of  the  position  taken  in  France  toward 
the  Protestants  during  the  latter  part  of  the  reign 
of  Louis  XIV.  and  all  the  reign  of  Louis  XV., 
while  of  course  it  was  infinitely  beyond  the  theory 
upon  which  the  temporal  and  spiritual  authorities 
of  Spain  acted. 

While  the  Irish  campaign  was  at  its  height,  the 
Scotch,  who  had  declared  for  Charles  II.,  made 
ready  for  war,  and  the  English  Parliament  de- 
manded Cromwell's  return.  For  some  months, 
however,  he  remained  in  Ireland,  capturing  Kil- 
kenny and  various  other  towns  and  castles  and 
constantly  extending  the  area  of  English  sway, 
driving  the  Irish  westward.  His  campaign  was 
a  model  for  all  military  operations  -undertaken  in 
a  difficult  cotmtry,  covered  by  a  network  of  forti- 
fied places,  and  held  by  masses  of  guerillas  or 
irregular  levies,  backed  by  the  whole  population 


The  Irish  and  Scotch  Wars        157 

After  Clonmel  was  taken  he  handed  over  the  com- 
mand to  Ireton ;  the  heavy  work  had  been  done, 
and  what  remained  to  do  was  tedious  and  harass- 
ing rather  than  formidable,  while  the  Scotch  busi- 
ness could  no  longer  wait. 

In  May,  1650,  Cromwell  landed  in  England, 
took  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  was 
made  Captain-General  and  Commander-in-Chief 
of  the  forces,  Fairfax  having  refused  to  take  part 
in  any  offensive  campaign  against  the  Covenant- 
ers. It  is  recorded  that  when  Cromwell  entered 
London,  greeted  by  surging  multitudes,  someone 
called  his  attention  to  the  way  the  people  turned 
out  to  do  him  honor  for  his  triumph ;  whereupon 
he  dryly  answered  that  it  was  nothing  to  the  way 
they  would  turn  out  to  see  him  hanged. 

The  refusal  of  Fairfax  to  march  against  the 
Scotch  left  Cromwell  the  only  hope  of  the  Com- 
monwealth. It  cannot  too  often  be  repeated  that, 
whether  in  the  end  Cromwell's  ambitions  did  or 
did  not  obscure  the  high  principles  with  which 
they  certainly  blended,  yet  he  rose  to  supreme 
power  less  by  his  own  volition  than  by  the  irresist- 
ible march  of  events,  and  because  he  was  "a  man 
of  the  mighty  days,  and  equal  to  the  days."  In 
this  world,  in  the  long  nm,  the  job  must  neces- 
sarily fall  to  the  man  who  both  can  and  will  do  it 
when  it  must  be  done,  even  though  he  does  it 
roughly  or  imperfectly.     It  is  well  enough  to 


158  Oliver  Cromwell 

deplore  and  to  strive  against  the  conditions  which 
make  it  necessary  to  do  the  job;  but  when  once 
face  to  face  with  it,  the  man  who  fails  either  in 
power  or  will,  the  man  who  is  half-hearted,  reluc- 
tant, or  incompetent,  must  give  way  to  the  actual 
doer,  and  he  must  not  complain  because  the  doer 
gets  the  credit  and  reward.  President  Buchanan 
utterly  disbelieved  in  the  right  of  secession,  but 
he  also  felt  doubts  as  to  its  being  constitutional  or 
possible  to  ''coerce  a  sovereign  state,"  and  there- 
fore he  and  those  who  thought  like  him  had  to 
give  place  to  men  who  felt  no  such  doubts.  It 
may  be  the  highest  duty  to  oppose  a  war  before 
it  is  brought  on,  but  once  the  country  is  at  war, 
the  man  who  fails  to  support  it  with  all  possible 
heartiness  comes  perilously  near  being  a  traitor, 
and  his  conduct  can  only  be  justified  on  groimds 
which  in  time  of  peace  would  justify  a  revolution. 
The  whole  strength  of  the  English  Commonwealth 
was  in  the  Independents.  Royalists,  Episcopa- 
lians, Presbyterians,  extreme  Levellers,  were  all 
against  it.  When  the  Scotch  declared  for  Charles 
II.  as  king,  not  only  of  Scotland  but  of  England, 
they  rendered  it  necessary  that  either  England  or 
Scotland  should  be  conquered.  Fairfax  declared 
that  he  was  willing  to  defend  the  English  against 
the  Scotch  attack,  but  not  to  attack  Scotland. 
The  position  was  puerile ;  a  fact  which  should  be 
borne  in  mind  by  the  excellent  persons  who  at  the 


The  Irish  and  Scotch  Wars        159 

present  day  believe  that  a  nation  can  be  somehow 
armed  for  defense  without  being  armed  for  attack. 
No  fight  was  ever  yet  won  by  parrying  alone ;  hard 
hitting  is  the  best  parry ;  the  offensive  is  the  only 
sure  defensive.  To  refuse  to  attack  the  Scotch 
was  merely  to  give  them  a  great  initial  advantage 
in  the  inevitable  struggle.  Cromwell  was  far  too 
clear-sighted  and  resolute  to  suffer  from  over- 
sentimental  scruples  in  the  matter.  Accordingly 
he  tmdertook  the  task ;  did  it  with  his  accustomed 
thoroughness;  and  from  that  moment  became, 
not  merely  the  first  man  in  the  kingdom,  but  a 
man  without  a  second  or  a  third,  without  a  rival 
of  any  kind. 

Charles  had  landed  in  Scotland  and  been  pro- 
claimed king,  but  was  forced  not  merely  to  take 
the  Covenant  but  to  make  degrading  professions 
of  abandonment  and  renunciation  of  his  father's 
acts  and  principles.  He  was,  after  all,  to  be  a 
king  only  in  name,  if  the  dominant  party  in  Scot- 
land could  have  its  way.  Dour  as  Dopper  Boers, 
the  Covenanters  were  determined  that  the  govern- 
ment should  be,  though  in  form  royal,  in  essence 
a  democratic  theocracy,  where  the  men  of  the 
strictest  Calvinistic  sect  should  all  have  their  say 
in  an  administration  marked  by  the  most  bitter  in- 
tolerance of  every  religious  belief  which  differed 
by  even  a  shade  from  their  own.  To  get  real 
religious  liberty  in  those  days  one  had  to  go  to 


i6o  Oliver  Cromwell 

Rhode  Island  or  Maryland;  but  at  least  the 
English  Puritans  were,  in  this  respect,  far  in 
advance  of  the  men  against  whom  they  were 
pitted. 

There  was  also  a  Royalist  party  in  Scotland, 
which  had  scant  sympathy  with  the  Covenanters, 
but  was  only  allowed  to  exist  at  all  by  their  suf- 
ferance. When  at  this  time  Montrose  landed  to 
help  the  King,  the  Presbyterian  friends  of  the 
King  promptly  overcame  and  slew  him.  The 
Kirk  was  supreme,  and  in  the  army  which  it 
gathered  to  meet  Cromwell  it  made  zeal  for  the 
Covenant  the  all-important  requirement  for  a 
commission.  It  would  not  even  permit  places  of 
command  to  be  given  to  the  officers  who  had 
marched  with  Hamilton's  army.  The  Royalists 
around  the  King  complained  bitterly  that  the 
commissions  were  most  apt  to  go  to  sons  of  min- 
isters, and  if  not,  then  to  men  whose  godliness 
and  religious  enthusiasm  were  but  poor  substitutes 
for  training  and  skill  in  arms.  Cromwell's  sol- 
diers possessed  all  of  these  qualities.  Devotion  to 
cotmtry  or  to  religion  adds  immensely  to  the  effi- 
ciency of  a  soldier,  but  is  a  broken  reed  by  itself. 
Officers  whose  only  qualifications  are  religious  or 
patriotic  zeal,  are  better  than  officers  who  seek 
service  to  gratify  their  vanity,  or  who  are  ap- 
pointed through  political  favor;  but  until  they 
have  really  learned  their  business,  and  unless  they 


The  Irish  and  Scotch  Wars        i6i 

are  eager  and  able  to  learn  it,  this  is  all  that  can 
be  said  of  them. 

Cromwell  marched  north  to  the  walls  of  Edin- 
burgh, where  David  Leslie  lay  with  the  Covenant- 
ing army  of  the  Kirk.  Leslie  had  fought  imder 
Gustavus  Adolphus,  and  beside  Cromwell  at 
Marston  Moor,  where  the  Scotch  insisted  that 
they  had  saved  the  Cromwellians  from  defeat. 
Now  the  two  sides  were  decisively  to  test  the 
question  of  supremacy.  But  the  contest  was 
really  utterly  imequal.  Cromwell  had  a  veteran 
army,  one  which  had  been  kept  imder  arms  for 
years. 

Leslie  had  an  army  which  had  been  brought  to- 
gether for  this  particular  war.  He  was,  therefore, 
under  the  terrible  disadvantage  which  rests  on  any 
man  who,  with  raw  volimteers,  confronts  well- 
trained,  well-led  veterans.  There  were  under  him 
plenty  of  officers  and  men  with  previous  military 
experience — though,  as  the  Royalist  above  quoted 
remarked,  too  many  of  the  officers  were  "sancti- 
fied creatures  who  hardly  ever  saw  or  heard  of 
any  sword  but  that  of  the  Spirit" — yet  the  regi- 
ments were  all  new,  and  the  men  had  no  regi- 
mental pride  or  confidence,  no  knowledge  of  how 
to  act  together,  no  trust  in  one  another  or  in  their 
commanders;  while  Cromwell's  regiments  were 
old,  and  the  recruits  in  each  at  once  took  their 
tone  from  the  veterans  around  them. 
II 


i62  Oliver  Cromwell 

Although  Leslie's  force  was  twice  that  of  Crom- 
well's, he  knew  his  trade  too  well  to  risk  a  stricken 
field  on  equal  terms,  when  the  soldiers  were  of 
such  unequal  quality.  He  accordingly  intrenched 
in  a  strong  position  covering  Edinburgh,  and  there 
awaited  the  English  attack.  Cromwell  was  a  bom 
fighter,  always  anxious  for  the  trial  of  the  sword ; 
a  man  who  habitually  took  castles  and  walled 
towns  by  storm,  himself  at  need  heading  the 
stormers,  and  who  won  his  pitched  battles  by  the 
shock  of  his  terrible  cavalry,  which  he  often  led 
in  person,  and  which  invariably  ruined  any  foe 
whom  he  had  overthrown.  He  now  advanced 
with  too  much  confidence  and  fotind  himself  in 
a  very  ugly  situation ;  his  men  sickening  rapidly 
while  Leslie's  army  increased  in  numbers  and  dis- 
cipline. Like  every  great  commander,  Cromwell 
realized  that  the  end  of  all  maneuvering  is  to  fight 
— that  the  end  of  strategy  should  be  the  crushing 
overthrow  in  battle  of  the  enemy's  forces.  On 
this  occasion  his  eagerness  made  him  forget  his 
caution ;  and  all  his  masterly  skill  was  needed  to 
extricate  him  from  the  position  into  which  he  had 
been  pltmged  by  his  own  overbearing  courage  and 
the  wariness  of  his  opponent. 

For  some  time  he  lay  before  Edinburgh,  imable 
to  get  Leslie  to  fight,  and  of  course  tm willing  to 
attack  him  in  his  intrenchments.  Sickness  and 
lack  of  provisions  finally  forced  him  to  retreat. 


The  Irish  and  Scotch  Wars        163 

He  believed  that  this  would  draw  Leslie  out  of 
his  works,  and  his  belief  was  justified  by  the  event. 
The  English  now  mustered  some  11,000  men; 
the  Scotch,  22,000.  Leslie  was  still  cautious  about 
fighting,  but  the  ministers  of  the  Kirk,  who  were 
with  him  in  great  numbers,  hurried  him  on.  He 
followed  Cromwell  to  Dunbar,  where  he  cut  off 
the  English  retreat  to  England.  But  his  army  was 
on  the  hills  and  was  suffering  from  the  weather. 
He  thought  that  the  discouraged  EngHsh  were 
about  to  embark  on  their  ships.  The  ministers 
fiercely  urged  him  to  destroy  the  "sectaries" 
whom  they  so  hated,  and  in  the  afternoon  of 
December  2  he  crowded  down  toward  the  lower 
ground,  near  the  sea. 

Cromwell  saw  with  stem  joy  that  at  last  the 
Scotch  had  given  him  the  longed-for  chance,  and 
true  to  his  instincts  he  at  once  decided  to  attack, 
instead  of  waiting  to  be  attacked.  Leslie's  troops 
had  come  down  the  steep  slopes,  and  at  their 
foot  were  crowded  together  so  that  their  freedom 
of  movement  was  much  impaired.  Cromwell 
believed  that  if  their  right  wing  were  smashed, 
the  left  could  not  come  in  time  to  its  support. 
He  pointed  this  out  to  Lambert,  who  commanded 
his  horse,  and  to  Monk,  the  saturnine  tobacco- 
chewing  colonel,  now  a  devoted  and  trusted  Crom- 
wellian.  Both  agreed  with  Cromwell,  and  before 
dawn   the   English   army   was   formed   for   the 


i64  Oliver  Cromwell 

onslaught,  the  officers  and  troopers  praying  and 
exhorting  loudly.  Their  cry  was:  ''The  Lord  of 
Hosts!"  that  of  their  Presbyterian  foes:  "The 
Covenant!"  It  was  a  strange  fight,  this  between 
the  Puritan  and  the  Covenanter,  whose  likeness 
in  the  intensity  of  their  religious  zeal  and  in  the 
great  features  of  their  creeds  but  embittered  their 
antagonism  over  the  smaller  points  upon  which 
they  differed. 

Day  dawned,  while  driving  gusts  of  rain  swept 
across  the  field,  and  the  soldiers  on  both  sides 
stood  motionless.  Then  the  trumpets  sounded 
the  charge,  and  the  English  horse,  followed  by 
the  English  foot,  spurred  against  the  stubborn 
Scottish  infantry  of  Leslie's  right  wing.  The 
masses  of  Scotch  cavalry,  with  their  lancers  at  the 
head,  fell  on  the  English  horse — disordered  by  the 
contest  with  the  infantry — and  pushed  them  back 
into  the  brook ;  but  they  rallied  in  a  moment,  as 
the  reserves  came  up,  and  horse  and  foot  again 
rushed  forward  to  the  attack.  At  this  moment 
the  sun  flamed  red  over  the  North  Sea,  and  Crom- 
well shouted  aloud,  with  stem  exultation:  ''Let 
God  arise  and  let  His  enemies  be  scattered,"  and 
a  few  moments  later — "They  run !  I  profess  they 
run!"  for  now  the  Scottish  army  broke  in  wild 
confusion,  though  one  brigade  of  foot  held  their 
ground,  fighting  the  English  infantry  at  push  of 
pike  and  butt-^nd  of  musket,  until  a  troop  of  the 


The  Irish  and  Scotch  Wars        165 

victorious  horse  charged  from  one  end  to  the 
other,  through  and  through  them. 

Cromwell  was  as  terrible  in  pursuit  as  in  battle. 
He  never  left  a  victory  half -won,  and  always  fol- 
lowed the  fleeing  foe,  as  Sheridan  followed  the 
Confederates  before  Appomattox.  The  English 
horse  pressed  the  fleeing  Scotch,  and  their  defeat 
became  the  wildest  rout,  their  cavalry  riding 
through  their  infantry.  Cromwell  himself  rallied 
and  reformed  his  troopers,  who  sang  as  a  song  of 
praise  the  himdred  and  seventeenth  psalm;  and 
then  he  again  loosed  his  squadrons  on  the  foe. 
The  fight  had  not  lasted  an  hour,  and  Cromwell*s 
victory  cost  him  very  little;  but  of  the  Scotch, 
3,000  were  put  to  the  sword,  chiefly  in  the  pursuit, 
and  10,000  were  captured,  with  30  guns  and  200 
colors.  Leslie  escaped  by  the  speed  of  his  horse. 
Never  had  Cromwell  won  a  greater  triumph. 
Like  Jackson  in  his  Valley  Campaigns,  though  he 
was  greatly  outnumbered,  he  struck  the  foe  at 
the  decisive  point  with  the  numbers  all  in  his  own 
favor,  and  by  taking  advantage  of  their  error  he 
ruined  them  at  a  blow.  Like  most  great  generals, 
Cromwell's  strategy  was  simple,  and  in  the  last 
resort  consisted  in  forcing  the  enemy  to  fight  on 
terms  that  rendered  it  possible  thoroughly  to 
defeat  him;  and  like  all  great  generals,  he  had 
an  eye  which  enabled  him  to  take  advantage  of 
the  fleeting  opportimities  which  occur  in  almost 


166  Oliver  Cromwell 

every  battle,  but  which  if  not  instantly  grasped 
vanish  forever. 

The  ruin  of  the  Kirk  brought  to  the  front  the 
Cavaliers,  who  still  surrounded  Charles  and  were 
resolute  to  continue  the  fight.  Both  before  and 
after  Dunbar,  Cromwell  carried  on  a  very  curious 
series  of  theological  disputations  with  the  leaders 
of  the  Kirk  party.  The  letters  and  addresses  of 
the  two  sides  remind  one  of  the  times  when 
Byzantine  emperors  exchanged  obscure  theolog- 
ical taimts  with  the  factions  of  the  Circus.  Yet 
this  correspondence  reveals  no  little  of  the  secret 
of  Cromwell's  power;  of  his  intense  religious 
enthusiasm — ^which  was  both  a  strength  and  a 
weakness — ^his  longing  for  orderly  liberty,  and  his 
half -stifled  aspirations  for  religious  freedom. 

He  was  on  soimd  ground  in  his  controversy 
with  the  Scottish  Kirk.  He  put  the  argument 
for  religious  freedom  well  when  he  wrote  to  the 
Governor  of  Edinburgh  Castle,  concerning  his 
ecclesiastical  opponents:^  **They  assume  to  be 
the  infallible  expositors  of  the  Covenant  (and  of 
the  Scriptures),  counting  a  different  sense  and 
judgment  from  theirs  Breach  of  Covenant  and 
Heresy — ^no  marvel  they  judge  of  others  so 
authoritatively  and  severely.  But  we  have  not 
so  learned  Christ.  We  look  at  Ministers  as  helpers 
of,  not  Lords  over,  God's  people.   I  appeal  to  their 

1  Slightly  condensed. 


The  Irish  and  Scotch  Wars        167 

consciences  whether  any  'man'  trying  their  doc- 
trines and  dissenting  shall  not  incur  the  censure 
of  Sectary?  And  what  is  this  but  to  deny  Chris- 
tians their  liberty  and  assume  the  Infallible  Chair? 
What  doth  (the  Pope)  do  more  than  this?" 

There  is  profitable  study  for  many  people  of 
to-day  in  the  following:  "Your  pretended  fear 
lest  error  should  step  in  is  like  the  man  who  would 
keep  all  the  wine  out  of  the  country,  lest  men 
should  be  drunk.  It  will  be  foimd  an  imjust  and 
unwise  jealousy  to  deprive  a  man  of  his  natural 
liberty  upon  a  supposition  he  may  abuse  it. 
When  he  doth  abuse  it,  judge.  If  a  man  speak 
foolishly,  ye  suffer  him  gladly,  because  ye  are  wise. 
Stop  such  a  man's  mouth  by  soimd  words  which 
cannot  be  gainsayed.  If  he  speak  to  the  disturb- 
ance of  the  public  peace,  let  the  civil  magistrate 
punish  him." 

After  Dunbar,  Cromwell  could  afford  to  indulge 
in  such  disputations,  for,  as  he  said:  *'The  Kirk 
had  done  their  do."  All  that  remained  was  to 
deal  with  the  Cavaliers.  There  is,  by  the  way,  a 
delightful  touch  of  the  **  Trust  in  the  Lord,  and 
keep  your  powder  dry!"  type  in  one  of  his 
letters  of  this  time,  when  he  desired  the  Com- 
mander at  Newcastle  to  ship  him  three  or  four 
score  masons,  "for  we  expect  that  God  will  sud- 
denly put  some  places  into  our  hands  which  we 
shall  have  occasion  to  fortify." 


1 68  Oliver  Cromwell 

The  fate  of  the  prisoners  taken  at  Dunbar  was 
dreadful.  War  had  not  learned  any  of  its  modem 
mercifulness.  Cromwell  was  in  this,  as  in  other 
respects,  ahead,  and  not  behind,  the  times.  He 
released  half  of  the  prisoners — for  the  most  part 
half -starved,  sick,  and  wounded — and  sent  the  rest 
under  convoy  southward,  praying  that  humanity 
might  be  exercised  toward  them ;  but  no  care  was 
taken  of  them,  and  four-fifths  died  from  starvation 
and  pestilence. 

Meanwhile,  a  new  Scotch  army  was  assembling 
at  Stirling,  consisting  for  the  most  part  of  the 
Lowland  Cavaliers,  with  their  retainers,  and  the 
Royalist  chief  from  the  Highlands,  with  their 
clansmen.  Before  acting  against  them,  Cromwell 
broke  up  the  remaining  Kirk  forces,  put  down 
the  moss-troopers  and  plimderers,  and  secured  the 
surrender  of  Edinburgh.  Winter  came  on,  and 
operations  ceased  during  the  severe  weather. 

In  the  spring  of  165 1,  he  resumed  his  work, 
and  by  the  end  of  summer  he  had  the  Royalists 
in  such  plight  that  it  was  evident  that  their  only 
chance  was  to  abide  the  hazard  of  a  great  effort. 
Early  in  August  Charles  led  his  army  across  the 
border  into  England,  to  see  if  he  could  not  retrieve 
his  cause  there,  while  Cromwell  was  in  Scotland; 
but  Cromwell  himself  promptly  followed  him, 
while  Cromwell's  lieutenants  in  England  opposed 
and  hampered  the  march  of  the  Royalists.    There 


The  Irish  and  Scotch  Wars        169 

was  need  of  resolute  action,  for  Charles  had  the 
best  Scotch  army  that  had  yet  been  gathered 
together.  There  was  no  general  rising  of  the 
English  to  join  him,  but,  when  he  reached  Wor- 
cester, the  town  received  him  with  open  arms. 
This  was  the  end  of  his  successes.  Cromwell  came 
up,  and  after  careful  preparation,  delivered  his 
attack,  on  September  3.  Charles  had  only  some 
15,000  men;  Cromwell,  nearly  30,000,  half  of 
whom,  however,  were  the  militia  of  the  neighbor- 
ing cotmties,  who  were  not  to  be  compared  either 
with  Cromwell's  own  veterans,  or  with  their 
Royalist  opponents.  The  fight  was  fierce,  Crom- 
well's left  wing  gradually  driving  back  the  enemy, 
in  spite  of  stubborn  resistance;  while,  on  his 
right,  the  Cavaliers  and  Highlanders  themselves 
vigorously  attacked  the  troops  to  which  they  were 
opposed.  It  was  "as  stiff  a  contest  for  four  or 
five  hours  as  ever  I  have  seen,"  wrote  Cromwell 
that  evening;  but  at  last  he  overthrew  his  foes, 
and,  following  them  with  his  usual  vigor,  frightful 
carnage  ensued.  The  victory  was  overwhelming. 
Charles  himself  escaped  after  various  remarkable 
adventures,  but  all  the  nobles  and  generals  of  note 
were  killed  or  taken.  Nearly  11,000  men  were 
captured,  and  practically  all  the  remainder  were 
slain. 

This  was,   as   Cromwell  said,    "the  crowning 
mercy."     It  was  the  last  fight  of  the  Civil  War; 


lyo  Oliver  Cromwell 

the  last  time  that  Cromwell  had  to  lead  an  army 
in  the  field.  From  now  till  his  death  there  never 
appeared  in  England  a  foe  it  was  necessary  for 
him  to  meet  in  person. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    COMMONWEALTH   AND    PROTECTORATE. 

AFTER  the  battle  of  Worcester,  the  author- 
ity of  the  Commonwealth  was  supreme 
throughout  the  British  Islands.  This 
authority  as  yet  reposed,  wholly  in  form,  largely 
in  substance,  with  the  remnant  of  the  Long  Par- 
liament. This  remnant,  derisively  called  the 
*'rump,"  differed  as  widely  in  power  and  capacity 
from  the  Pariiament  led  by  Pym  and  Hampden, 
as  the  Continental  Congress  that  saw  the  outgoing 
of  the  Revolutionary  War  differed  from  that 
which  saw  its  incoming.  Defections  and  purg- 
ings,  exclusions  first  of  whole-hearted  Episcopa- 
lian Royalists  and  then  of  half-hearted  Presby- 
terian Royalists  had  reduced  it  to  being  but  the 
representative  of  a  faction.  It  had  submitted  to 
the  supremacy  of  the  army  by  submitting  to  the 
exclusion  of  those  members  to  whom  the  army 
objected.  Then  it  had  worked  for  some  time 
hand  in  hand  with  the  army ;  but,  now  that  war 
was  over,  the  Parliamentary  representatives  of 
the  Independents  feared  more  and  more  the 
supremacy  of  the  military,  or  Cromwellian,  wing 
of  their  party.  It  was  the  army,  and  not  the  Par- 
liament, that  had  won  the  fight ;  that  had  killed 

171 


172  Oliver  Cromwell 

one  king,  and  driven  another,  his  son,  into  exile; 
that  had  subdued  Scotland  and  Ireland,  and 
stamped  out  the  last  vestige  of  Royalist  resistance 
in  England.  Yet  it  was  the  Pariiament,  and  not 
the  army,  which  in  theory  was  to  fall  heir  to  the 
royal  power. 

Moreover,  Parliament,  thanks  to  its  past  his- 
tory, had  become  as  little  as  the  army  the  legal 
embodiment  of  the  power  of  England ;  and  what 
was  more  important,  there  was  even  less  general 
acceptance  of  it  as  the  proper  representative  of 
power,  than  there  was  general  acceptance  of  the 
army.  The  army,  even  where  hated,  was  feared 
and  respected;  the  Parliament  was  beginning  to 
excite  no  emotion  save  an  angry  contempt. 
There  were  men  of  honor,  of  note,  and  of  ability 
still  left  in  the  Parliament ;  but  its  vital  force  was 
dying. 

Conscious  of  its  own  weakness  before  the  peo- 
ple, the  Parliament  was  most  reluctant  to  face  a 
dissolution ;  most  eager  to  devise  means  by  which 
its  rule  could  be  perpetuated.  The  army,  no  less 
conscious  of  the  hostility  felt  for  it  by  the  Parlia- 
ment, was  just  as  determined  that  there  should  be 
a  dissolution  and  an  election  of  a  new  Parliament. 
In  the  approaching  conflict  the  army  had  an  im- 
mense advantage,  for,  while  the  Parliament  was 
losing  its  grip  upon  the  Independents,  without  in 
any  way  attracting  strength  from  the  Royalists, 


The  Commonwealth  173 

the  great  mass  of  the  Independents  still  firmly 
regarded  Cromwell  as  their  especial  champion. 

This  was  the  case,  not  only  in  England,  but 
elsewhere.  One  of  Cromwell's  letters  of  about 
this  time  is  to  the  New  England  clergyman,  John 
Cotton,  in  answer  to  one  which  showed  the  keen 
interest  taken  in  Cromwell's  triumph  by  his  fellow- 
Puritans,  who,  across  the  Atlantic,  had  begim  the 
upbuilding  of  what  is  now  the  giant  republic  of 
the  New  World.  The  letter  is  marked  by  the  con- 
tinuous use  of  scriptural  phrases  and  protestations 
of  humility,  so  ostentatious  and  overstrained  as  to 
convey  an  uncomfortable  feeling  of  hypocrisy ;  yet, 
without  doubt,  there  was  a  base  of  genuineness  for 
these  expressions.  Beyond  question,  Cromwell 
felt  that  he  was  doing  the  Lord's  work ;  and  was 
sustained  through  the  tremendous  hours  of  labor 
and  peril  by  the  sense  of  battling  for  justice  on 
this  earth,  and  in  accordance  with  the  Eternal  Will 
of  Heaven. 

In  dealing  with  Cromwell  and  the  Puritan 
Revolution  it  must  ever  be  kept  in  mind,  before 
judging  too  harshly  the  actors,  that  the  era  saw 
the  overlapping  of  two  systems,  both  in  religion 
and  in  politics ;  and  many  incongruities  resulted. 
It  was  the  first  great  stride  toward  the  practical 
achievement  of  civil  rights  and  individual  liberty 
as  we  now  imderstand  them.  It  was  also  the  era 
in  which  the  old  theological  theory  of  the  all- 


174  Oliver  Cromwell 

importance  of  dogma  came  into  sharp  conflict 
with  the  now  healthily  general  religious  belief  in 
the  superior  importance  of  conduct.  Of  course, 
as  is  invariably  the  case  in  real  life,  the  issues 
were  not  sharply  drawn  at  all  points,  and  at  some 
they  were  wholly  obscured  by  the  strong  passions 
and  ambitions  which  belong,  not  to  any  particular 
age,  but  to  all  time. 

After  Worcester,  when  Cromwell  had  returned 
to  London,  he  one  day  summoned  a  conference, 
at  Speaker  Lenthall's  house,  of  the  leaders  of  the 
Parliamentary  army  to  decide  how  the  national 
destiny  was  to  be  settled.  He  hoped  that  they 
would  be  able  to  form  a  policy  among  them- 
selves; but  the  hope  proved  fruitless.  Some  of 
the  members  wished  an  absolute  republic;  some 
wished  a  setting-up  of  what  we  would  now  call  a 
limited  monarchy,  with  one  of  the  late  king's  sons 
recalled  and  put  at  the  head. 

Nothing  came  of  the  conference,  and  Parlia- 
ment went  its  way.  It  had  at  last  waked  to  the 
fact  that  it  must  do  something  positive  in  the 
way  of  reform,  or  else  that  its  days  were  num- 
bered. It  began  with  great  reluctance  to  make  a 
pretense  of  preparing  for  its  own  dissolution,  and 
strove  to  accomplish  some  kind  of  reform  in  the 
laws.  At  that  time  the  law  of  England  had  been 
for  generations  little  more  than  a  mass  of  ingen- 
ious technicalities,  and  the  Court  of  Chancery  had 


The  Commonwealth  175 

become  the  synonym  for  a  system  of  interminable 
delay,  which  worked  as  much  injustice  as  out- 
right spoliation.  Even  now  there  is  a  tendency 
in  the  law  toward  the  deification  of  technicalities, 
the  substitution  of  the  letter  for  the  spirit ;  a  ten- 
dency which  can  only  be  offset  by  a  Bench,  and, 
indeed,  a  Bar,  possessing  both  courage  and  com- 
mon sense.  At  that  time,  the  condition  of  aifairs 
was  much  worse,  and  the  best  men  in  England 
shared  the  popular  feeling  of  extreme  dislike  for 
lawyers,  as  men  whose  trade  was  not  to  secure 
justice,  but  to  weave  a  great  web  of  technicalities 
which  completely  defeated  justice.  However, 
reform  in  the  methods  of  legal  procedure  proved 
as  difficult  then  as  it  ever  has  proved,  and  all  that 
even  Cromwell  could  do  was  to  make  a  beginning 
in  the  right  direction.  The  Riimp  was  quite 
unable  so  much  as  to  make  this  beginning. 

The  Parliament  obtained  a  momentary  respite 
by  creating  a  diversion  in  foreign  affairs,  and 
bringing  on  a  war  with  the  Dutch.  Throughout 
the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the 
Dutch  were  the  leading  mercantile  and  naval 
power  of  Europe,  surpassing  the  English  in  trade 
and  in  colonial  possessions.  Unfortimately  for 
them,  their  home  authorities  did  not  believe  in 
preparedness  for  war;  and  the  crushing  defeats 
which  the  boldness  and  skill  of  their  sailors  had 
enabled  them  to  inflict  on  the  Spaniards,  lulled 


176  Oliver  Cromwell 

them  into  the  unwholesome  faith — shared  at 
times  by  great  modem  mercantile  communities — 
that,  by  simple  desire  for  peace,  they  could  avert 
war;  and  that  if  war  came,  they  could  trust  to 
their  riches  and  reserve  strength  to  win.  Accord- 
ingly, in  time  of  peace  they  laid  up  their  warships 
and  never  built  a  fighting  navy  in  advance,  trust- 
ing to  the  use  of  armed  merchant-vessels  and  im- 
provised war-craft  to  meet  the  need  of  the  hour. 
England,  on  the  contrary,  had  a  large  regular 
navy,  the  ships  being  superior  in  size  and  arma- 
ment to  the  Dutch,  and  the  personnel  of  the  navy 
being  better  disciplined,  although  none  of  the  Eng- 
lish admirals,  save  Blake,  ranked  with  Tromp  and 
De  Ruyter. 

The  cause  of  the  quarrel  was  the  Navigation 
Act,  passed  by  England  for  the  express  purpose 
of  building  up  the  English  commercial  marine  at 
the  expense  of  the  Dutch.  The  latter  were  then 
the  world's  carriers  on  the  ocean.  They  derived 
an  immense  profit  from  carrying  the  goods  of 
other  countries,  in  their  own  bottoms,  from  these 
other  countries  to  England.  The  Navigation 
Act  forbade  this,  allowing  only  English  bottoms 
to  be  used  to  carry  goods  to  England,  tmless  the 
goods  were  carried  in  the  ships  of  the  country 
from  which  they  came.  This  is  the  kind  of 
measure  especially  condemned  by  the  laissez-faire 
school  of  economists,  and  its  good  results  in  this 


The  Commonwealth  177 

case  have  always  puzzled  them;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  its  success  under  one  set  of  conditions 
has  been  often  ignorantly  held  to  justify  its  appli- 
cation under  entirely  different  conditions.  In 
other  words,  like  the  system  of  protective  tariffs, 
it  is  one  of  those  economic  measures  which  may 
or  may  not  be  useful  to  a  coimtry,  according  to 
changes  in  time  and  circumstances.  In  the  Crom- 
wellian  period  it  benefited  the  English  as  much  as 
it  hurt  the  Dutch,  and  laid  the  foimdation  of  Eng- 
lish commercial  supremacy.  Another  cause  of 
war  was  the  insistence  by  the  English  upon  their 
right  to  have  their  flag  saluted  by  the  Dutch  as 
well  as  by  other  foreign  powers. 

There  followed  a  bloody  and  obstinate  struggle 
for  the  mastery  of  the  seas.  Battle  after  battle 
was  fought  between  the  Dutch  and  English  fleets. 
The  latter  were  commanded  by  Blake,  Monk, 
Dean,  and  other  officers,  who  had  won  distinction 
ashore — for  the  process  of  differentiation  between 
military  service  on  land  and  on  the  sea  was  far 
from  complete.  The  fighting  was  most  deter- 
mined, and  the  Dutch  won  two  or  three  victories ; 
but  they  were  defeated  again  and  again,  tintil 
finally  beaten  into  submission.  The  war  was  one 
undertaken  purely  from  motives  of  commercial 
greed,  against  the  nation  which,  among  all  the 
nations  of  continental  Europe,  stood  closest  to 
England  in  religious  belief,  in  form  of  government, 
la 


178  Oliver  Cromwell 

in  social  ideas,  and  in  its  system  of  political 
liberty.  Cromwell  hated  the  thought  of  the  two 
free  Protestant  powers  battling  one  another  to 
exhaustion,  while  every  ecclesiastical  and  political 
tyranny  looked  on  with  a  grin  of  approbation.  He 
wished  the  alliance,  not  the  enmity,  of  Holland ; 
and  though,  when  the  war  was  once  on,  he  and 
those  he  represented  refused  in  any  way  to  em- 
barrass their  own  government,  yet  they  were 
anxious  for  peace.  The  Parliament,  on  the  other 
hand,  hailed  the  rise  of  the  navy  tinder  Blake  as 
a  counterpoise  to  the  power  of  the  army  under 
Cromwell.  One  effect  of  this  Dutch  war  was  to 
postpone  the  question  of  the  dissolution  of  Parlia- 
ment ;  another,  to  cause  increased  taxation,  which 
was  met  by  levying  on  the  estates  of  the  Royalist 
delinquents,  so-called. 

By  March,  1653,  the  Dutch  were  evidently 
beaten,  and  peace  was  in  sight ;  but  before  peace 
came,  there  was  an  end  of  the  Rump  Parliament. 
The  discontent  in  the  army  had  steadily  in- 
creased. They  wished  a  thorough  reform  in 
governmental  methods;  and  with  the  character- 
istic Puritan  habit  of  thought,  wished  especially 
to  guarantee  the  safety  of  the  ''Godly  interests" 
by  a  complete  new  election.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  Parliament  was  scheming  how  to  yield  in 
name  only,  and  not  in  fact,  and  had  hit  on  the 
device  of  passing  a  bill  which  should  continue 


The  Commonwealth  179 

all  the  members  of  the  existing  Parliament  without 
reelection ;  and,  moreover,  should  constitute  them 
a  general  committee,  with  full  power  to  pass  upon 
the  qualifications  of  any  new  members  elected. 
This,  of  course,  amounted  to  nothing,  and  the 
army  would  not  accept  it. 

Many  conferences  of  the  leaders  of  the  two 
sides  were  held  at  Cromwell's  house,  the  last  on 
the  evening  of  April  19,  1653,  young  Sir  Harry 
Vane,  formerly  one  of  Cromwell's  close  friends, 
being  among  the  number  of  the  Parliament- 
ary leaders.  Cromwell,  on  behalf  of  his  party, 
warned  them  that  their  bill  could  not  be 
accepted  or  submitted  to,  and  the  Parliamentary 
leaders  finally  agreed  that  it  should  not  be 
brought  up  again  in  the  House,  until  after  further 
conference.  But  they  either  did  not  or  could  not 
keep  their  agreement.  The  members  of  the 
House  were  obstinately  resolved  to  keep  their 
places — many  of  them  from  corrupt  motives,  for 
they  had  undoubtedly  made  much  money  out  of 
their  positions,  through  the  taxing  of  delinquents 
and  otherwise.  In  short,  they  wished  to  per- 
petuate their  government,  to  have  England  ruled 
by  a  little  self-perpetuating  oligarchy.  Next 
morning,  April  20,  Parliament  met  and  the  leaders 
began  to  hurry  the  bill  through  the  House. 

They  reckoned  without  their  host.  Cromwell, 
sitting  in  his  reception-room,  and  waiting  the 


i8o  Oliver  Cromwell 

return  of  the  conferees  of  last  evening,  learned 
what  was  going  on,  and  just  as  he  was  clad,  "in 
plain  black  clothes  and  gray  worsted  stockings,'* 
followed  by  a  few  officers  and  twenty  or  thirty 
stark  musketeers,  he  walked  down  to  the  House. 
There  he  sat  and  listened  for  some  time  to  the 
debate  on  the  bill,  once  beckoning  over  Harri- 
son, the  Republican  general,  his  devoted  follower. 
When  the  question  was  put  as  to  whether  the 
bill  should  pass,  he  rose  and  broke  in  with  one 
of  his  characteristic  speeches.  First,  he  enumer- 
ated the  good  that  had  been  done  by  Parliament, 
and  then  began  to  tell  them  of  their  injustice, 
their  heed  to  their  own  self-interests,  their  delay 
to  do  right.  One  among  his  eager  listeners 
called  him  to  order,  but  no  appeal  to  Parlia- 
mentary forms  could  save  the  doomed  House. 
"Come,  come!"  answered  Oliver,  "we  have  had 
enough  of  this ;  I  will  put  an  end  to  your  prating ! " 
With  that  he  clapped  on  his  hat,  stamped  on  the 
floor  with  his  feet,  and  began  to  rate  the  Commons 
as  if  they  were  disobedient  school-boys.  "It  is 
not  fit  that  you  should  sit  here  any  longer;  you 
have  sat  too  long  for  any  good  that  you  have 
been  doing  lately;  you  shall  now  give  place  to 
better  men!"  And  Harrison  called  in  the  mus- 
keteers. Oliver  then  continued,  enumerating  the 
sins  of  the  members,  some  of  whom  were  dnmk- 
ards,  some  lewd  livers,  some  corrupt  and  unjust. 


-Wl 


r    V  J 


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T^.,. 


^^   Ki 


^  \j^  m 


^IM 


::Jr'. 


■^■ 


•^g     p.  T 


-i^^»^  -'^   - 


^'    \r%  ,.|K  ■ 


The  Commonwealth  iSi 

The  House  was  on  its  feet  as  he  lifted  the  mace, 
saying:  "What  shall  we  do  with  this  bauble? 
Take  it  away!"  and  gave  it  to  a  musketeer;  and 
then,  turning  toward  the  Speaker:  "Fetch  him 
down!"  and  fetched  down  he  was.  Gloomily 
the  members  went  out,  while  Cromwell  taunted 
Sir  Harry  Vane  with  breaking  his  promise,  ending 
with :  "  The  Lord  deliver  me  from  thee.  Sir  Harry 
Vane!"  So  ended  the  Long  Parliament  and, 
asserted  OHver,  "We  did  not  hear  a  dog  bark  at 
their  going." 

Tomes  have  been  written  to  prove  whether 
Oliver  was  right  or  wrong  in  what  he  did  at  this 
time ;  but  the  Rump  Parliament  had  no  claim  to 
be,  either  in  law  or  fact,  the  representative  of  the 
English  people,  or  of  any  part  of  them  that  really 
counted.  There  was  no  justification  for  its  con- 
tinuance, and  no  good  whatever  could  come  from 
permitting  it  to  exist  longer.  Its  actions,  and 
especially  its  obstinate  determination  to  perpetu- 
ate its  own  rule,  without  warrant  in  law,  without 
the  even  higher  and  more  perilous  warrant  of 
justice  and  national  need,  rendered  it  necessary 
that  it  should  be  dissolved.  At  the  time  Crom- 
well, without  doubt,  intended  that  it  should  be 
replaced  by  a  genuinely  representative  body ;  and 
if  he  had  possessed  the  temper,  the  self-control, 
the  far-sighted  patriotism,  and  the  personal  dis- 
interestedness which  would  have  enabled  him  to 


i82  Oliver  Cromwell 

carry  out  his  intentions  in  good  faith,  without 
thinking  of  his  own  interests,  he  would  have 
rendered  an  inestimable  public  service  and  might 
have  advanced  by  generations  the  movement  for 
English  liberty. 

In  other  words,  if  Cromwell  had  been  a  Wash- 
ington, the  Puritan  Revolution  might  have  been 
made  permanent.  His  early  acts,  after  the  disso- 
lution of  the  Long  ParHament,  showed  a  sincere 
desire  on  his  part,  and  on  the  part  of  those  whose 
leader  he  was,  to  provide  some  form  of  govern- 
ment which  should  secure  justice  and  order,  with- 
out leaving  ever3rthing  to  the  will  of  one  man. 
His  first  effort  was  to  summon  an  assembly  of  the 
Puritan  notables.  In  the  interim  he  appointed  a 
new  Cotmcil  of  State,  with  himself,  as  Captain- 
General,  at  its  head.  The  fleet,  the  army,  and 
the  Independents  generally,  all  hastened  to  pledge 
him  their  support,  and  England  undoubtedly  ac- 
quiesced in  his  action,  being  chiefly  anxious  to 
see  whether  or  not  the  new  Assembly  could  for- 
mulate a  permanent  scheme  of  government.  If 
the  Assembly  and  Cromwell  together  could  have 
done  this — that  is,  could  have  done  work  like  that 
of  the  great  Convention  which  promulgated  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States — all  would  have 
gone  well. 

In  criticizing  Cromwell,  however,  we  must 
remember  that  generally  in  such  cases  an  even 


The  Commonwealth  183 

greater  share  of  blame  must  attach  to  the  nation 
than  to  the  man.  Free  government  is  only  for 
nations  that  deserve  it ;  and  they  lose  all  right  to 
it  by  licentiousness,  no  less  than  by  servility.  If 
a  nation  cannot  govern  itself,  it  makes  compara- 
tively little  difference  whether  its  inability  springs 
from  a  slavish  and  craven  distrust  of  its  own 
powers,  or  from  sheer  incapacity  on  the  part  of  its 
citizens  to  exercise  self-control  and  to  act  together. 
Self-governing  freemen  must  have  the  power  to 
accept  necessary  compromises,  to  make  necessary 
concessions,  each  sacrificing  somewhat  of  preju- 
dice, and  even  of  principle,  and  every  group  must 
show  the  necessary  subordination  of  its  particular 
interests  to  the  interests  of  the  community  as  a 
whole.  When  the  people  will  not  or  cannot  work 
together;  when  they  permit  groups  of  extremists 
to  decline  to  accept  anything  that  does  not  coin- 
cide with  their  own  extreme  views ;  or  when  they 
let  power  slip  from  their  hands  through  sheer 
supine  indifference;  then  they  have  themselves 
chiefly  to  blame  if  the  power  is  grasped  by  stronger 
hands.  Yet,  while  keeping  all  this  in  mind,  it 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  a  great  and  patriotic 
leader  may,  if  the  people  have  any  capacity  for 
self-government  whatever,  help  them  upward 
along  their  hard  path  by  his  wise  leadership,  his 
wise  yielding  to  even  what  he  does  not  like,  and 
his  wise  refusal  to  consider  his  own  selfish  interests. 


184  Oliver  Cromwell 

A  people  thoroughly  unfit  for  self-government,  as 
were  the  French  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, are  the  natural  prey  of  a  conscienceless 
tyrant  like  Napoleon.  A  people  like  the  Ameri- 
cans of  the  same  generation  can  be  led  along  the 
path  of  liberty  and  order  by  a  Washington.  The 
English  people,  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  might  have  been  helped  to  entire  self- 
government  by  Cromwell,  but  were  not  suffi- 
ciently advanced  politically  to  keep  him  from 
making  himself  their  absolute  master  if  he  proved 
morally  unequal  to  rising  to  the  Washington  level ; 
though  doubtless  they  would  not  have  tolerated 
a  man  of  the  Napoleonic  type. 

The  Assembly  gathered  in  July,  1653.  It  was 
called  the  "Barebones"  Parliament  in  derision, 
because  one  of  its  members — a  Puritan  leather- 
merchant — was  named  "Praise-God  Barbon." 
The  members  were  men  of  high  character,  of 
intense  religious  fervor,  and,  for  the  most  part,  of 
good  social  standing.  They  were  actuated  by 
sincere  conviction,  but  they  had  no  political  train- 
ing whatever.  They  were  not  accustomed  to 
make  government  move;  they  were  theorists, 
rather  than  doers.  Religious  fervor,  or  mere 
fervor  for  excellence  in  the  abstract,  is  a  great 
mainspring  for  good  work  in  politics  as  in  war, 
but  it  is  no  substitute  for  training,  in  either  civil 
or  military  life ;  and  if  not  accompanied  by  sound 


The  Commonwealth  185 

common  sense  and  a  spirit  of  broad  tolerance,  it 
may  do  as  much  damage  as  any  other  mighty  force 
which  is  unregulated. 

On  July  4,  Cromwell  opened  the  Assembly 
with  a  long  speech,  which,  toward  the  end, 
became  a  true  Puritan  sermon;  a  speech  which 
had  in  it  a  very  high  note  of  religion  and  morality, 
but  which  showed  a  growing  tendency  in  Oliver's 
mind  to  appeal  from  the  judgment  of  men  to 
what  he  esteemed  the  judgment  of  Heaven, 
whenever  he  thought  men  were  wrong.  Now,  it 
is  very  essential  that  a  man  should  have  in  him 
the  capacity  to  defy  his  fellows  if  he  thinks  that 
they  are  doing  the  work  of  the  devil,  and  not  the 
work  of  the  Lord;  but  it  is  even  more  essential 
for  him  to  remember  that  he  must  be  most  cau- 
tious about  mistaking  his  own  views  for  those  of 
the  Lord;  and  also  to  remember  that  as  the 
Lord's  work  is  accomplished  through  human 
instnmients,  and  as  these  can  only  be  used  to 
advantage  by  remembering  that  they  are  human, 
and,  therefore,  imperfect,  in  the  long  run  a  man 
can  do  nothing  of  permanence,  save  by  joining 
his  zeal  to  sound  judgment,  moderation,  and  the 
desire  to  accompHsh  practical  results. 

The  Assembly  of  Ptiritan  notables  was  no 
more  competent  to  initiate  successful  self-govern- 
ment in  England  than  a  Congress  of  Abolitionists, 
in  i860,  would  have  been  competent  to  govern 


i86  Oliver  Cromwell 

the  United  States.  They  did  not  lack  in  lofty 
devotion  to  their  ideals,  but  their  methods  were 
impractical.  Cromwell  professed  to  have  resigned 
his  power  into  their  hands,  and  they  went  at  their 
work  in  a  spirit  of  high  religious  enthusiasm.  The 
"instrument,"  under  which  they  were  summoned, 
had  provided  that  their  authority  should  be  trans- 
ferred to  another  assembly  elected  imder  their 
directions;  in  other  words,  they  were  to  form  a 
constitutional  convention.  They  undertook  a 
host  of  reforms,  largely  in  the  right  direction. 
Among  other  things,  they  proposed  the  abolition 
of  the  Court  of  Chancery,  the  establishment  of 
civil  marriage,  the  abolition  of  tithes,  and  of  lay 
patronage.  The  clergy  and  the  lawyers  were  cast 
into  a  frenzy  of  alarm  over  these  proposals,  and 
the  landed  proprietors  became  very  imeasy  lest 
some  of  their  own  imjust  vested  interests  should 
suffer. 

{jNow,  all  this  was  most  excellent  in  point  of 
moral  purpose,  just  as  it  would  have  been  abso- 
lutely right,  from  the  abstract  ethical  standpoint, 
if  the ,  Constitution  of  1789,  or  the  Republican 
Convention  of  i860,  had  declared  for  the  aboli- 
tion of  slavery  in  all  the  States.  Of  course,  if  the 
Constitution  had  made  such  a  declaration,  it 
would  never  have  been  adopted,  and  the  English- 
speaking  people  of  North  America  would  have 
plunged  into  a  condition  of  anarchy  like  that  of 


The  Commonwealth  187 

the  aftertime  South  American  Republics;  while, 
if  the  Republican  platform  of  i860  had  taken 
such  a  position,  Lincoln  would  not  have  been 
elected,  no  war  for  the  Union  would  have  been 
waged,  and  instead  of  slavery  being  abolished,  it 
would  have  been  perpetuated  in  at  least  one  of 
the  confederacies  into  which  the  country  would 
have  been  split.  The  Barebones  Parliament  was 
too  far  ahead  of  the  times,  too  indifferent  to  re- 
sults, and  too  impatient  of  the  limitations  and 
prejudices  of  its  neighbors.  Its  members  were 
reformers,  who  lost  sight  of  the  fact  that  a  reform 
must  be  practicable  in  order  to  make  it  of  value. 
They  excited  the  utmost  suspicion  in  the  com- 
mimity  at  large,  and  Cromwell,  whose  mind  was 
in  many  respects  very  conservative,  and  who  was 
an  administrator  rather  than  a  constructive  states- 
man, shared  the  general  imeasiness.  He  shrank 
from  the  acts  of  the  Barebones  Parliament  just  as 
he  had  shrunk  from  the  leveling  tendencies  of 
the  Republicans.  The  leaders  of  both  had  gone 
too  far  in  the  direction  of  speculative  reform. 
Cromwell  erred  on  the  other  side,  and  did  not  go 
far  enough.  It  is  just  as  necessary  for  the  practi- 
cal man  to  remember  that  his  practical  qualities 
are  useless,  or  worse  than  useless,  imless  he  joins 
with  them  that  spirit  of  striving  after  better  things 
which  marks  the  reformer,  as  it  is  for  this  same 
reformer  to  remember  that  he  cannot  give  effective 


i88  Oliver  Cromwell 

expression  to  his  desire  for  a  higher  life  save  by 
following  rigidly  practical  ways. 

Cromwell,  in  his  opening  address  to  the  Con- 
vention, had  been  carried  away  by  his  religious 
enthusiasm,  and  in  a  burst  of  strange,  rugged  elo- 
quence had  bid  his  hearers  remember  that  they 
must  "hold  themselves  accountable  to  God 
only;"  must  own  their  call  to  be  from  Him,  and 
must  strive  to  bring  about  God*s  rule  upon  earth. 
When  they  took  his  words  literally  he  became 
heartily  uneasy,  as  did  the  great  bulk  of  English- 
men ;  for,  of  course,  there  were  limitless  interpre- 
tations to  be  put  as  to  the  proper  way  of  being 
"owned"  by  God,  and  Oliver  was  not  in  the  least 
inclined  to  accept  the  interpretation  adopted  by 
the  Barebones  Parliament.  He  wished  adminis- 
trative reform  in  Church  and  State,  but  he  had 
little  sympathy  with  what  he  deemed  revolution- 
ary theories,  whether  good  or  bad. 

The  Convention  gradually  grew  conscious  that 
it  had  no  support  in  popular  sympathy,  and  dis- 
solved of  its  own  motion,  after  having  named  a 
Coimcil  of  State,  which  drew  up  a  remarkable 
constitution  imder  the  name  of  the  "Instrument 
of  Government."  This  instnmient  was  adopted 
by  Cromwell  and  the  Council  of  Officers,  and 
under  it  a  new  Parliament  was  convened.  Even 
yet,  Cromwell,  and  at  least  the  majority  of  the 
army,  shrank  from  abandoning  every  effort  at 


The  Commonwealth  189 

constitutional  rule  in  favor  of  the  naked  power  of 
the  sword.  Nevertheless,  Cromwell  had  even  less 
fondness  for  the  rule  of  a  Parliament  elected 
under  any  conditions  he  was  able  to  devise.  He 
realized  that  the  majority  of  the  nation  was  against 
him,  and  dreaded  lest  it  might  take  steps  toward 
the  rehabilitation  of  the  monarchy.  In  his  ad- 
dress to  the  Barebones  Convention  he  had  dwelt 
with  special  emphasis  upon  the  fact  that  a  Par- 
liament elected  merely  by  the  majority  might  not 
be  nearly  so  suitable  for  doing  the  Lord's  work  as 
such  an  assembly  as  that  he  had  convened. 

In  short,  all  his  qualities,  both  good  and  bad, 
tended  to  render  the  forms  and  the  narrowly  lim- 
ited powers  of  constitutional  government  irksome 
to  him.  His  strength,  his  intensity  of  conviction, 
his  delight  in  exercising  powers  for  what  he  con- 
ceived to  be  good  ends ;  his  dislike  of  speculative 
reforms  and  his  inability  to  appreciate  the  neces- 
sity of  theories  to  a  practical  man  who  wishes  to 
do  good  work;  his  hatred  of  both  King  and 
oligarchy,  while  he  utterly  distrusted  a  popular 
majority ;  his  tendency  to  insist  upon  the  superi- 
ority of  the  moral  law,  as  he  saw  it,  to  the  laws  of 
mankind  roimd  about  him — all  these  tendencies 
worked  together  to  unfit  him  for  the  task  of  help- 
ing a  liberty-loving  people  on  the  road  toward 
freedom. 

The  Instrument  of    Government  was  a  very 


190  Oliver  Cromwell 

remarkable  document.  It  was  a  written  consti- 
tution. Cromwell  and  his  soldiers  desired,  like 
Washington  and  his  fellow-members  of  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention  which  framed  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  to  have  the  funda- 
mental law  of  the  land  put  in  shape  where  it 
would  be  accessible  to  all  men,  and  where  its 
terms  would  not  be  open  to  doubt.  Such  a 
course  was  absolutely  necessary  if  a  free  govern- 
ment, in  the  modem  sense,  was  to  be  established 
on  radically  new  lines.  It  has  not  been  ren- 
dered necessary  in  the  free  England  of  to-day, 
because,  very  fortunately,  England  has  been  able 
to  reach  her  freedom  by  evolution,  not  revolution. 
The  Instrument  of  Government  confided  the 
executive  power  to  a  Lord  Protector  and  Coun- 
cil; Cromwell  was  named  as  the  first  Protector. 
The  legislative  power  was  assigned  without  restric- 
tion to  a  Parliament  elected  by  constituencies 
formed  on  a  new  and  equitable  franchise,  there 
being  a  sweeping  redistribution  of  seats.  Parlia- 
ment could  pass  a  bill  over  the  Protector's  veto, 
and  was  to  meet  once  in  three  years,  for  at  least 
five  months;  but  it  had  little  control  over  the 
executive,  save  that  with  it  rested  the  initiative  in 
filling  vacancies  in  the  Council.  The  Protector 
was  allotted  a  certain  fixed  sum,  which  made  him 
largely  independent  of  the  Parliament's  action. 
Nevertheless,  the  Protector  was  imder  real  con- 


The  Commonwealth  191 

stitutional  control.  Religious  liberty  was  secured 
for  all  congregations  which  did  not  admit ''  papacy 
or  prelacy,"  the  Episcopalians  and  Roman  Cath- 
olics being  excluded  from  this  right  just  as  they 
were  excluded  from  the  right  of  voting,  rather  as 
enemies  to  the  Commonwealth  than  because  of 
their  mere  reHgious  beliefs.  They  were  regarded 
as  what  would  now  be  called,  in  the  political  termi- 
nology of  continental  Europe,  "  irreconcilables ; " 
and  the  mass  and  the  Prayer-Book  were  both  pro- 
hibited. Until  the  first  Parliament  met,  which  was 
to  be  on  the  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  Dimbar, 
on  September  3,  1654,  the  Protector  and  Coxmcil 
were  to  issue  ordinances  with  the  force  of  law. 

The  Constitution  thus  had  very  many  points  of 
difference  from  that  imder  which  the  United 
States  grew  into  a  great  nation.  Yet  it  ranks 
with  it,  rather  than  with  the  system  of  Parliamen- 
tary supremacy  which  was  ultimately  adopted  in 
England.  It  was,  of  course,  less  popular,  in  the 
true  sense,  than  the  government  of  either  the 
United  States  or  Great  Britain  at  the  present 
moment.  OHver,  later  on,  insisted  on  what  he 
called  the  "  Four  Ftmdamentals,"  which  answered 
to  what  we  now  style  Constitutional  Rights.  His 
position  was  strictly  in  accord  with  the  American, 
as  opposed  to  the  English,  theory  of  embodying, 
by  preference  in  some  written  document,  proposi- 
tions which  neither  the  law-making  body  nor  the 


192  Oliver  Cromwell 

executive  could  modify.  It  was  not  to  be  ex- 
pected that  he  should  hit  on  the  device  of  a 
Supreme  Court  to  keep  guard  over  these  propo- 
sitions. 

On  December  i6,  1653,  Oliver  was  installed 
at  Westminster,  as  Lord  Protector.  The  judges, 
the  army,  the  fleet,  the  mass  of  Independents,  and 
the  bulk  of  well-to-do  citizens,  concurred  in  the 
new  departure ;  for  the  Protectorship  gave  stability 
and  the  election  of  the  new  Parliament  the  assu- 
rance of  liberty.  There  were  plenty  of  opponents, 
however.  The  Royalists  were  implacable.  The 
exiled  House  of  Stuart,  with  a  baseness  of  which 
their  great  opponent  was  entirely  incapable,  sought 
to  compass  his  assassination.  They  could  in  no 
other  way  hope  to  reach  the  man  whom  they 
dared  not  look  in  the  face  on  the  field  of  battle. 
Plot  after  plot  was  formed  to  kill  the  Protector, 
but  the  plotters  were  invariably  discovered  and 
brought  to  justice;  while  every  attempt  at  open 
insurrection  was  stamped  out  with  the  utmost 
ease.  To  the  Royalist  malcontents  were  added 
the  extreme  fanatics,  the  ultra-reformers  of  every 
type — religious,  political,  and  social.  These  were, 
at  the  time,  more  dangerous  than  the  Royalists, 
for  they  nimibered  supporters  in  the  army,  includ- 
ing some  who  had  been  prominent  friends  of 
Cromwell  up  to  this  time,  like  General  Harrison. 
It  was  necessary,  therefore,  to  arrest  some  of 


The  Commonwealth  193 

the  most  turbulent  agitators,  including  preachers, 
and  to  deprive  certain  officers  of  their  commis- 
sions. 

The  Protector  and  his  Cotmcil  acted  wisely 
in  their  ordinances,  redressing  in  practical  shape 
many  grievances.  The  Barebones  Parliament  had 
striven  to  abolish  the  Court  of  Chancery  outright, 
and  to  hand  its  power  over  to  the  judges  of  the 
Common  Law,  which  would  merely  have  aggra- 
vated the  existing  hardships  by  checking  the 
growth  of  the  principle  of  eqiiity.  Oliver  acted 
more  conservatively :  in  fact,  altogether  too  con- 
servatively; but  still  he  did  something.  In  the 
Church  government,  also,  a  good  deal  was  accom- 
plished by  the  appointment  of  commissioners  of 
good  character  to  supervise  the  ministers,  while 
allowing  each  to  organize  his  congregation  on  any 
lines  he  chose — Presbyterian,  Congregationalist,  or 
Baptist.  Dissenters  were  permitted  to  form  sepa- 
rate congregations — "gathered  churches"  in  the 
phrase  of  the  day — if  they  so  desired.  Of  course, 
this  was  not  .by  any  means  complete  religious 
toleration,  but  it  was  a  nearer  approach  to  it  than 
any  government  in  Europe,  with  the  possible  ex- 
ception of  the  Dutch,  had  yet  sanctioned,  and  it 
was  so  far  in  advance  of  the  general  spirit  of  the 
time  that  the  new  Parliament — a  really  represen- 
tative body — took  sharp  exception  to  it.  In 
point  of  rehgious  toleration  Oliver  went  just  as 


194  Oliver  Cromwell 

far  as  the  people  of  his  day  would  let  him — farther 
than  any  other  ruler  of  the  century  was  willing  to 
go,  save  only  Henry  IV.  of  France — and  Henry  IV. 
really  believed  in  nothing,  and  so  could  easily  be 
tolerant,  while  Cromwell's  zealous  faith  was  part 
of  the  very  marrow  of  his  being. 

Cromwell  also  concluded  peace  with  the  Dutch. 
Before  the  Long  Parliament  was  dissolved  it  had 
become  evident  that  the  navy  would  ultimately 
conquer  this  peace  for  England ;  but  the  stubborn 
Dutch  had  to  -undergo  several  additional  defeats 
before  they  would  come  to  terms.  Blake,  the 
great  admiral,  had  no  particular  admiration  for 
Cromwell,  but  finally  threw  in  his  lot  with  him 
on  the  ground  that  the  fleet  had  no  concern  with 
politics,  and  should  limit  itself  strictly  to  the  effort 
''to  keep  foreigners  from  fooling  us."  Monk  was 
the  admiral  most  in  view  in  the  later  stages  of  the 
Dutch  war.  When  it  was  over,  he  was  sent 
back  to  keep  the  Highlands  in  order,  which  he  and 
his  fellow-Cromwellians  did,  with  a  thoroughness 
not  afterward  approached  for  a  century.  Scot- 
land was  now  definitely  united  to  England. 

The  new  Parliament  consisted  of  four  hundred 
members  from  England,  thirty  from  Scotland,  and 
thirty  from  Ireland.  They  were  elected  by  a  gen- 
eral suffrage,  based  on  the  possession  of  property 
to  the  value  of  £200.  The  Parliament  thus  gath- 
ered was  representative  in  a  very  wide  sense. 


The  Commonwealth  195 

Nearly  two  hundred  years  were  to  elapse  before 
any  other  as  truly  representative  was  to  sit  in  Eng- 
land. The  classes  whose  inclusion  would  certainly 
have  made  trouble  were  excluded ;  and,  while  the 
suffrage  had  been  extended,  and  gross  inequalities 
of  representation  abolished,  there  had  been  no 
such  revolutionary  action  as  suddenly  to  introduce 
masses  of  men  imaccustomed  to  the  exercise  of  self- 
government.  Indeed,  the  House  had  arbitrarily 
erased  from  its  roll  of  membership  the  names  of  a 
few  ultra-Republicans.  It  was  chiefly  Cromwell's 
own  fault  that  he  failed  to  get  along  with  this  Par- 
liament, and,  therefore,  failed  to  put  the  govern- 
ment on  a  permanent  basis  of  orderly  liberty. 

At  the  beginning,  everything  seemed  to  go  well. 
He  opened  the  Parliament  with  one  of  those  note- 
worthy speeches  of  which  some  seventeen  have 
been  preserved ;  speeches  in  the  proper  sense,  im- 
questionably  better  when  spoken  to  listeners  than 
when  read  by  critics,  but  instinct  with  the  rough 
power  of  the  speaker,  permeated  with  religious 
fervor  and  sincere  striving  after  the  right;  and 
even  where  the  reasoning  is  most  wrong-headed, 
containing  phrases  and  sentiments  which  show  the 
keenest  insight  into  the  needs  of  the  moment,  and 
the  needs  of  eternity  as  well.  The  sentences  are 
often  very  involved,  it  being  quite  evident  that 
the  speeches  were  not  written  out,  not  even  deHb- 
erately  thought  out,  in  advance ;  for  Oliver,  even 


196  Oliver  Cromwell 

as  he  spoke,  kept  dropping  and  rejecting  such  of 
his  half -finished  utterances  as  did  not  give  suffi- 
ciently accurate  or  vehement  expression  to  his 
thought.  Yet  they  contain  abundance  of  the 
loftiest  thought,  expressed  in  language  which 
merely  gains  strength  from  its  rude,  vigorous 
homeliness.  For  generations  after  Cromwell's 
death,  the  polished  cynics  and  dull  pedants,  who 
abhorred  and  misimderstood  him,  spoke  of  his 
utterances  with  mixed  ridicule  and  wrath :  Hume 
hazarding  the  opinion  that  if  his  speeches,  letters, 
and  writings,  were  gathered  together  they  would 
form  "one  of  the  most  nonsensical  collections  the 
world  had  ever  seen."  We  could  far  better  afford 
to  lose  every  line  Hume  ever  wrote  than  the 
speeches  of  Cromwell. 

In  his  opening  address  he  pointed  out  that  what 
the  nation  most  needed  was  healing  and  settling; 
and  in  a  spirit  of  thoroughly  English  conservatism, 
denotinced  any  merely  revolutionary  doctrines 
which  would  do  away  with  the  security  of  property 
or  would  give  the  tenant  "  as  liberal  a  fortime"  as 
the  landlord.  In  religious  matters  also,  he  con- 
demned those  who  could  do  nothing  but  cry: 
"  Overturn !  Overturn ! !  Overturn ! ! !  "and  together 
with  his  praise  of  what  had  been  done,  and  of  the 
body  to  which  he  spoke,  he  mingled  much  advice, 
remarking:  "I  hope  you  will  not  be  im willing  to 
hear  a  little  again  of  the  sharp  as  well  as  of  the 


The  Commonwealth  197 

sweet.**  He  exhorted  them  to  go  to  work  in  sober 
earnest ;  to  remedy  in  practical  shape  any  wrongs, 
and  to  join  with  him  in  working  for  good  govern- 
ment. Unfortunately,  he  made  the  mental  reser- 
vation that  he  should  be  himself  the  ultimate  judge 
of  what  good  government  was. 

Equally  imfortimately,  there  was  in  the  House 
a  body  of  vehement  Republicans  who  at  once 
denied  the  legal  existence  of  either  Cotincil  or  Pro- 
tector, on  the  groimd  that  the  Long  Parliament 
had  never  been  dissolved.  Of  course  such  an 
argument  was  self -destructive,  as  it  told  equally 
against  the  legality  of  the  new  Parliament  in  which 
they  sat.  Parliament  contented  itself  with  recog- 
nizing the  Instrument  of  Government  as  only  of 
provisional  validity,  and  proceeded  to  discuss  it, 
clause  by  clause,  as  the  groimdwork  of  a  new  Con- 
stitution. It  was  imanimously  agreed  that  Crom- 
well should  retain  his  power  for  five  years,  but  Par- 
liament showed  by  its  actions  that  it  did  not  intend 
to  leave  him  in  a  position  of  absolute  supremacy. 
Instantly  Oliver  interfered,  as  arbitrarily  as  any 
hereditary  king  might  have  done. 

He  first  appeared  before  the  Parliament,  and 
in  an  exceedingly  able  speech  annoimced  his  will- 
ingness to  accept  a  Parliamentary  constitution, 
provided  that  it  contained  four  fundamentals  not 
to  be  overturned  by  law.  The  ftindamentals  were, 
first,  that  the  coimtry  was  to  be  governed  by  a 


198  Oliver  Cromwell 

single  person,  by  a  single  executive,  and  a  Parlia- 
ment ;  second,  that  Parliaments  were  not  to  make 
themselves  perpetual;  third,  that  liberty  of  con- 
science should  be  respected ;  fourth,  that  the  Pro- 
tector and  Parliament  should  have  joint  power 
over  the  militia. 

All  four  propositions  were  sotmd.  The  first 
two  were  agreed  to  at  once,  and  the  third  also, 
though  with  some  reluctance,  the  Parliament 
being  less  liberal  than  the  Protector  in  religious 
matters.  Over  the  control  of  the  soldiers  there 
was  irreconcilable  difference. 

Cromwell  was  not  content  with  arguments.  He 
would  not  permit  any  member  to  enter  the  House 
without  signing  an  engagement  not  to  alter  the 
government  as  it  had  been  settled ;  that  is,  every 
member  had  to  subscribe  to  the  joint  government 
of  the  Protector  and  the  Parliament.  A  himdred 
members  refused  to  sign.  Three-fourths  of  the 
House  did  sign,  and  went  on  with  their  work. 

Until  the  assembling  of  this  Parliament,  every 
step  that  Oliver  had  taken  could  be  thoroughly 
justified.  He  had  not  played  the  part  of  a 
usurper.  He  had  been  a  zealous  patriot,  work- 
ing in  the  interests  of  the  people;  and  he  had 
only  broken  up  the  Long  Parliament  when  the 
Long  Parliament  had  itself  become  an  utterly 
unrepresentative  body.  He  had  then  shown  his 
good  faith  by  promptly  summoning  a  genuinely 


The  Commonwealth  199 

representative  body.  It  is  possible  to  defend 
him  even  for  excluding  the  hundred  members 
who  declined  to  subscribe  to  his  theory  of  the 
fimdamentals  of  government.  But  it  is  not  pos- 
sible to  excuse  him  for  what  he  now  did.  Par- 
liament, as  it  was  left  after  the  extremists  had 
been  expelled,  stood  as  the  only  elective  body 
which  it  was  possible  to  gather  in  England  that 
could  in  any  sense  be  called  representative,  and 
yet  agree  to  work  with  Cromwell.  Had  Crom- 
well not  become  cursed  with  the  love  of  power; 
had  he  not  acquired  a  dictatorial  habit  of  mind, 
and  the  fatal  incapacity  to  acknowledge  that 
there  might  be  righteousness  in  other  methods 
than  his  own,  he  could  certainly  have  avoided  a 
break  with  this  Parliament.  His  splitting  with 
it  was  absolutely  needless.  It  agreed  to  confirm 
his  powers  for  five  years,  and,  as  it  happened,  at 
the  end  of  that  time  he  was  dead.  Even  had  he 
lived  there  could  be  no  possible  excuse  for  refusing 
such  a  lease  of  power,  on  the  ground  that  it  was 
too  short ;  for  it  was  amply  long  enough  to  allow 
him  to  settle  whatever  was  necessary  to  settle. 

Cromwell,  and  later  his  apologists,  insisted  that, 
by  delay  and  by  refusing  to  grant  supplies  tmtil 
their  grievances  were  considered,  the  Parliament 
was  encouraging  the  spirit  of  revolt.  In  reality 
the  spirit  of  revolt  was  tenfold  increased,  not  by 
the  Parliament's  action,  but  by  Cromwell's,  in 


200  Oliver  Cromwell 

seizing  arbitrary  power.  If  he  had  shown  a 
tenth  of  the  forbearance  that  Washington 
showed  in  dealing  with  the  various  Continental 
Congresses,  he  would  have  been  readily  granted 
far  more  power  than  ever  Washington  was 
given.  He  could  easily  have  settled  affairs  on  a 
constitutional  basis,  which  would  have  given  him 
all  the  power  he  had  any  right  to  ask ;  for  his 
difficulties  in  this  particular  crisis  were  nothing 
like  so  great  as  those  which  Washington  sur- 
mounted. The  plea  that  the  safety  of  the  people 
and  of  the  cause  of  righteousness  depended  upon 
his  tmchecked  control,  is  a  plea  always  made  in 
such  cases,  and  generally,  as  in  this  particular 
case,  without  any  basis  in  fact.  The  need  was 
just  the  other  way. 

Contrast  Cromwell's  conduct  with  that  of  Lin- 
coln, just  before  his  second  election  as  President. 
There  was  a  time  in  the  summer  of  1864  when  it 
looked  as  if  the  Democrats  would  win,  and  elect 
McClellan.  At  that  time  it  was  infinitely  more 
essential  to  the  salvation  of  the  Union  that  Lin- 
coln should  be  continued  in  power,  than  it  was  to 
the  salvation  of  the  Commonwealth,  in  1654,  that 
Cromwell  should  be  continued  in  power.  Lin- 
coln would  have  been  far  more  excusable  than 
Cromwell  if  he  had  insisted  upon  keeping  control. 
Yet  such  a  thought  never  entered  Lincoln's  head. 
He  prepared  to  abide  in  good  faith  the  decision  of 


The  Commonwealth  201 

the  people,  and  one  of  the  most  touching  incidents 
of  his  life  is  the  quiet  and  noble  sincerity  with 
which  he  made  preparations,  if  McClellan  was 
elected,  to  advise  with  him  and  help  him  in  every 
way,  and  to  use  his  own  power,  during  the  interval 
between  McClellan 's  election  and  inauguration, 
in  such  a  manner  as  would  redotmd  most  to  the 
advantage  of  the  latter,  and  would  increase,  as  far 
as  possible,  the  chance  for  the  preservation  of  the 
Union.  It  was  at  this  time  of  Cromwell's  life  that, 
at  the  parting  of  the  ways,  he  chose  the  wrong 
way.  Great  man  though  he  was,  and  far  though 
the  good  that  he  did  outbalanced  the  evil,  yet  he 
lost  the  right  to  stand  with  men  like  Washington 
and  Lincoln  of  modem  times,  and  with  the  very, 
very  few  who,  like  Timoleon,  in  some  measure 
approached  their  standard  in  ancient  times. 

As  the  Parliament  continued  in  session,  the  atti- 
tude of  the  Protector  changed  from  sullen  to  fierce 
hostility.  It  was  entitled  to  sit  five  months.  By 
a  quibble  he  construed  this  to  mean  five  limar 
months.  On  January  22,  1655,  he  dissolved  it, 
after  rating  it  in  a  long  and  angry  speech.  With 
its  dissolution  it  became  evident  to  the  great  mass 
of  true  liberty-lovers  that  all  hope  of  real  freedom 
was  at  an  end,  and  the  forces  that  told  for  the 
restoration  of  the  King  were  increased  tenfold  in 
strength.  Nevertheless,  some  of  the  purest  and 
most  ardent  lovers  of  liberty,  like  Milton,  still 


202  Oliver  Cromwell 

clung  despairingly  to  the  Protector.  They  recog- 
nized that,  with  all  his  faults,  and  in  spite  of  his 
determination  to  rule  in  arbitrary  fashion,  he  yet 
intended  to  secure  peace,  justice,  and  good  govern- 
ment, and,  alike  in  power  and  in  moral  grandeur, 
towered  above  his  only  possible  alternative, 
Charles  II.,  as  a  giant  towers  above  a  pigmy. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PERSONAL   RULE. 

WHEN  Cromwell,  in  January,  1655,  dis- 
missed the  first  Protectorate  Parliament, 
he  left  himself  nothing  to  do  but  to  estab- 
lish his  own  personal  rule;  in  other  words,  he 
became  a  tyrant.  Of  course  the  word  cannot  be 
used  in  the  sense  we  use  it  in  describing  Ivan  the 
Terrible,  or  Agathokles.  Jis  each  country  must, 
sooner  or  later,  obtain  exactly  that  measure  of 
political  freedom  to  which  it  is  entitled,  so,  when 
it  falls  tmder  a  tyranny,  the  tyranny  must  be 
strictly  conditioned  by  the  character  of  the  peoplej 
Cromwell  ruled  over  Englishmen,  not  Russians  or 
Greeks,  and  no  Englishman  would  have  tolerated 
for  twenty-four  hours  what  was  groaningly  borne 
by  Muscovites,  who  had  lost  every  vestige  of  man- 
hood beneath  the  Tartar  yoke,  or  by  Syracusans, 
in  the  days  of  the  rapid  decadence  of  the  Hel- 
lenistic world.  Cromwell's  government  was  a 
tyranny  because  it  was  based  on  his  own  personal 
rule,  his  personal  decision  as  to  what  taxes  should 
be  levied,  what  ordinances  issued,  what  police 
measures  decreed  and  carried  out,  what  foreign 
poHcy  adopted  or  rejected.  He  was  influenced 
very  much  by  pubHc  opinion,  when  public  opinion 

203 


204  Oliver  Cromwell 

found  definite  expression  in  the  action  of  a  body 
of  legislators  or  of  an  assembly  of  officers;  but 
even  in  such  cases  he  was  only  influenced,  not  con- 
trolled. In  other  words,  he  had  gone  back  to  the 
theory  of  government  professed  by  the  man  he  had 
executed,  and  by  that  man's  predecessors.  There 
was,  however,  the  tremendous  and  far-reaching 
difference,  that,  whereas  the  Stuart  kings  climg 
to  absolute  power  for  the  sake  of  rewarding  favor- 
ites and  of  carrying  out  policies  that  were  hostile 
to  the  honor  and  interest  of  England,  Cromwell 
seized  it  with  the  sincere  purpose  of  exalting  the 
moral  law  at  home  and  increasing  the  honor  of 
England's  name  abroad.  Moreover,  he  was  in 
fact  what  no  Stuart  was,  in  anything  but  name: 
a  "king  among  men,"  and  his  mighty  strength 
enabled  him,  at  least  partially,  to  realize  his  pur- 
pose. 

Cromwell  doubtless  persuaded  himself  that  he 
was  endeavoring  to  secure  what  would  now  be 
called  a  constitutional  government:  one  which, 
in  his  own  words,  "should  avoid  alike  the  ex- 
tremes of  monarchy  and  democracy."  He  was 
desirous  of  paying  heed  to  the  wishes  of  those 
whom  he  esteemed  the  wisest  and  most  honest 
among  the  people.  He  had  somewhat  of  that 
gift  for  personal  popularity  which  was  so  marked 
a  feature  of  Queen  Elizabeth — seemingly  the  only 
sovereign  whom  he  admired,  among  all  his  prede- 


Personal  Rule  205 

cessors.  To  the  last  he  kept  stirring  vaguely  for 
a  constitutional  system ;  and  he  sincerely  disliked 
merely  arbitrary  rule. 

But  by  the  time  he  became  Lord  Protector  he 
was  too  impatient  of  difference  of  opinion,  too 
doggedly  convinced  of  his  own  righteousness  and 
wisdom,  to  be  really  fit  to  carry  on  a  free  gov- 
ernment. He  had  sought  to  introduce  the  reign 
of  the  saints ;  but  when,  in  the  Barebones  Parlia- 
ment, he  gathered  together  the  very  men  whom 
he  deemed  their  arch-representatives,  it  was  only 
to  find,  as  was  of  course  inevitable,  that  he  and 
they  could  not  agree  as  to  the  method  of  realizing 
the  reign  of  the  saints  in  this  very  material  world. 
Then  he  sought  to  secure  a  government  by  the 
representatives  of  the  people :  only  to  find  that  he 
got  along  even  less  well  with  them  than  with  the 
saints.  In  short,  while  he  had  kept  his  nobility 
of  purpose,  his  whole  character  had  grown  less  and 
less  such  as  to  fit  him  to  f otmd  a  government  of  the 
kind  toward  which  his  race  was  dimly  striving. 

He  made  varied  experiments  for  the  control  of 
England.  After  the  first  Protectorate  Parliament 
had  been  abolished,  he  established  the  govern- 
ment of  the  major-generals,  or  in  other  words, 
purely  mihtary  rule;  dividing  England  into  a 
dozen  districts,  with  a  major-general  over  each  as 
the  ultimate  authority.  The  prime  fimction  of 
the  major-generals  was  to  keep  order,  and  they 


2o6  Oliver  Cromwell 

crushed  under  their  iron  heels  every  spark  of 
RoyaHst  insurrection,  or  of  Leveller  and  Anabap- 
tist uprising.  They  interfered  in  civil  matters 
also,  and  were  especially  required  to  see  to  the 
rigid  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  and  to  suppress 
all  cock-fighting,  horse-racing,  and  kindred  sports, 
as  well  as  to  shut  up  doubtful  ale-houses.  There 
certainly  never  was  a  more  extraordinary  despot- 
ism than  this;  the  despotism  of  a  man  who 
sought  power,  not  to  gratify  himself,  or  those 
belonging  to  him,  in  any  of  the  methods  to  which 
all  other  tyrants  have  been  prone ;  but  to  estab- 
lish the  reign  of  the  Lord  as  he  saw  it.  Here 
was  a  tyrant  who  used  the  overwhelming  strength 
of  his  military  force  to  forbid  what  he  considered 
profane  amusements,  and  to  enforce  on  one  day 
of  the  week  a  system  of  conduct  which  was  old- 
Jewish  in  character.  Of  course  the  fact  that  he 
meant  well,  and  that  his  motives  were  high,  did 
not  make  it  any  the  easier  for  the  people  with 
whose  pleasures  and  prejudices  he  thus  irritatingly 
interfered. 

The  Puritan  passion  for  regulating,  not  merely 
the  religion,  but  the  morals  and  manners  of  their 
neighbors,  especially  in  the  matter  of  Simday  ob- 
servance and  of  pastimes  generally,  was  peculiarly 
exasperating  to  men  of  a  more  easy-going  nature. 
Even  nowadays,  the  effort  for  practical  reform  in 
American  city  government  is  rendered  immeasura- 


Personal  Rule  207 

bly  more  difficult  by  the  fact  that  a  considerable 
number  of  the  best  citizens  are  prone  to  devote 
their  utmost  energies,  not  to  striving  for  the  funda- 
mentals of  social  morality,  civic  honesty,  and  good 
government,  but,  in  accordance  with  their  own 
theory  of  propriety  of  conduct,  to  preventing 
other  men  from  pursuing  what  these  latter  regard 
as  innocent  pleasures ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  a 
large  number  of  good  citizens,  in  their  irritation 
at  any  interference  with  what  they  feel  to  be 
legitimate  pastimes,  welcome  the  grossest  corrup- 
tion and  misrule  rather  than  submit  to  what  they 
call  "  Puritanism."  When  this  happens,  before 
our  eyes,  we  need  not  wonder  that  in  Cromwell's 
day  the  determination  of  the  Puritans  to  put  down 
ale-houses  and  prohibit  every  type  of  Sunday  pas- 
time, irritated  large  bodies  of  the  people  to  the 
point  of  longing  for  the  restoration  of  the  Stuarts, 
no  matter  what  might  be  the  accompanying  evils 
of  corruption  and  tyranny. 

The  experiment  of  governing  by  the  major- 
generals  provoked  such  mutterings  of  discontent 
that  it  had  to  be  abandoned.  Another  Parliament 
was  summoned,  and  out  of  this  Oliver  arbitrarily 
kept  any  man  whom  he  did  not  think  ought  to 
come  in.  It  was  anything  but  a  radical  body, 
and  after  declaring  against  the  rule  of  the  major- 
generals,  it  offered  Oliver  the  kingship,  an  offer 
to  which  the  army  objected,  and  which  Oliver, 


2o8  Oliver  Cromwell 

therefore,  refused ;  but  even  with  this  subservient 
assembly  Oliver  could  not  get  along,  and  it  finally- 
shared  the  fate  of  its  predecessor.  The  objection 
of  the  army  to  the  kingship  was  partly  due  to  the 
presence  of  so  many  Republican  zealots  in  its 
ranks ;  but  probably  the  main  reason  for  the  objec- 
tion was  that  the  army,  more  or  less  consciously, 
realized  that  its  own  overmastering  importance  in 
the  Commonwealth  would  vanish  as  soon  as  the 
man  it  had  made  supreme  by  the  sword  was 
changed  into  a  constitutional  king. 

One  by  one  almost  all  of  Oliver's  old  comrades 
and  adherents  left  him,  and  he  was  driven  to  put 
his  own  kinsfolk  into  as  many  of  the  higher  places, 
both  in  the  State  and  the  army,  as  possible ;  less 
from  nepotism  than  from  the  need  of  having  in 
important  positions  men  who  would  do  his  will, 
without  question.  Eventually  he  had  to  abandon, 
most  of  the  ideas  of  political  liberty  which  he  had 
originally  championed,  and,  following  the  path 
which  the  Long  Parliament  had  already  trod, 
he  finally  established  a  rigid  censorship  of  the 
press. 

Yet,  though  it  must  be  freely  admitted  that  in 
its  later  years  the  government  of  Cromwell  was 
in  form  and  substance  a  tyranny,  it  must  be  no 
less  freely  acknowledged  that  he  used  with  wisdom 
and  grandeur  the  power  he  had  usurped.  The 
faults  he  committed  were  the  faults  of  the  age, 


Personal  Rule  209 

rather  than  special  to  himself,  while  his  sincerity 
and  honesty  were  peculiarly  his  own. 

He  fairly  carried  out  his  pledge  of  healing  and 
settling,  and  he  put  through  a  long  series  of  ad- 
ministrative reforms.  In  England  and  Wales  his 
internal  administration  imdoubtedly  told  for  what 
was  of  moral  and  material  advantage  to  the  coun- 
try; and  if  there  was  heavy  taxation,  at  least  it 
produced  visible  and  tangible  results,  which  was 
never  the  case  under  the  Stuarts,  before  or  after 
him.  Yet  his  rule  could  not  but  produce  discon- 
tent. In  the  first  place,  the  Royalists  were  not 
well  treated.  In  that  age  the  beaten  party  was 
expected  to  pay  heavily  for  its  lack  of  success, 
both  in  purse  and  in  body;  and  it  was  not  to  be 
expected  that  the  victorious  Puritans  should  show 
toward  their  defeated  foes  the  generosity  displayed 
by  Grant  and  his  fellow-victors  in  the  American 
Civil  War.  In  the  American  Revolution,  the 
Tories  were  at  first  followed  with  much  the  same 
vindictiveness  that  the  Royalists  were  followed 
after  King  Charles  had  been  brought  to  the  block. 
But  Washington  and  all  the  leading  American 
statesmen  disapproved  of  this,  and  after  the  first 
heat  of  passion  was  over  the  American  Royalists 
were  allowed  precisely  the  same  civil  and  political 
rights  as  their  neighbors.  On  the  contrary,  in 
England,  imder  the  Commonwealth,  the  Royalists 
were  kept  disfranchised,  and  taxation  was  arranged 
14 


2IO  Oliver  Cromwell 

so  as  always  to  fall  with  crushing  weight  .upon 
them,  thus  insuring  their  permanent  alienation. 
As  regards  the  rest  of  the  people,  while  there  was 
considerable  interference  with  political  and  relig- 
ious liberty,  it  was  probably  only  what  the  times 
demanded,  and  was  certainly  much  less  than 
occurred  in  almost  any  other  coiintry.  Episco- 
palians were  denied  the  use  of  the  Prayer-Book, 
and,  like  the  Catholics,  were  given  liberty  of  con- 
science only  on  condition  that  they  should  not 
practise  their  faith  in  public.  Irritating  though 
this  was,  and  wrong  though  it  was,  it  fell  infinitely 
short  of  what  had  been  done  to  Protestants,  tinder 
Queen  Mary,  by  the  temporarily  victorious  Cath- 
olics, or  to  Puritans  and  Catholics  under  Queen 
Elizabeth,  or  of  what  was  to  be  done  to  the  Cov- 
enanters of  Scotland,  under  the  victorious  Episco- , 
palians ;  but  such  considerations  would  not  have 
altered  the  discontent,  even  had  the  discontented 
kept  them  in  mind.  When  provocation  is  suf- 
ficient to  drive  a  man  into  revolution,  it  matters 
little  in  practical  politics  how  much  beyond  this 
point  it  is  carried.  The  breaking-point  is  reached 
sooner  in  some  nations  than  in  others ;  but  in  all 
strong  nations  persecution  will  cause  revolt  long 
before  it  takes  the  terrible  form  given  it  by  Span- 
iards and  Turks ;  and,  once  the  war  is  on,  the  men 
who  revolt  hate  any  persecutor  so  much  that  there 
is  scant  room  for  intensification  of  the  feeling. 


Personal  Rule  an 

Moreover,  instead  of  the  Cromwellian  govern- 
ment growing  more,  it  grew  less  tolerant  of  Cathol- 
icism and  Episcopacy  as  time  went  on. 

The  people  at  large  were  peculiarly  irritated  by 
what  were  merely  the  defects  inevitably  incident  to 
the  good  features  of  Puritanism  in  that  age.  When 
faith  is  very  strong  and  belief  very  sincere,  men 
must  possess  great  wisdom,  broad  charity,  and 
the  ability  to  learn  by  experience,  or  else  they  will 
certainly  try  to  make  others  live  up  to  their  own 
standards.  This  would  be  bad  enough,  even  were 
the  standards  absolutely  right;  and  it  is  neces- 
sarily worse  in  practice  than  in  theory,  inasmuch 
as  mixed  with  the  right  there  is  invariably  an  ele- 
ment of  what  is  wrong  or  fooHsh.  The  extreme 
exponents  and  apologists  of  any  fervent  creed  can 
always  justify  themselves,  in  the  realm  of  pure 
logic,  for  insisting  that  all  the  world  shall  be  made 
to  accept  and  act  up  to  their  standards,  and  that 
they  must  necessarily  strive  to  bring  this  about, 
if  they  really  believe  what  they  profess  to  believe. 
Of  course,  in  practice,  the  answer  is  that  there  are 
himdreds  of  different  creeds,  or  shades  of  creeds, 
all  of  which  are  believed  in  with  equal  devoutness 
by  their  followers,  and  therefore  in  a  workaday 
government  it  is  necessary  to  insist  that  none  shall 
interfere  with  any  other.  Where  people  are  as 
far  advanced  in  practical  good  sense  and  in  true 
religious  toleration  as  in  the  United  States  to-day, 


212  Oliver  Cromwell 

the  great  majority  of  each  creed  gradually  grows 
to  accept  this  position  as  axiomatic,  and  the 
smaller  minority  is  kept  in  check  without  effort, 
both  by  law  and  by  public  opinion. 

In  Cromwell's  time,  such  law  did  not  obtain  in 
any  land,  and  public  opinion  was  not  ripe  for  it. 
He  was  far  in  advance  of  his  fellow-Englishmen. 
He  described  their  attitude  perfectly,  and  indeed 
the  attitude  of  all  Europe,  when  he  remarked: 
"  Every  sect  saith.  Oh,  give  me  liberty!  but,  given 
it  and  to  spare,  he  will  not  yield  it  to  anyone  else. 
Liberty  of  conscience  is  a  natural  right,  and  he 
that  would  have  it  ought  to  give  it.  ...  I  desire 
it  from  my  heart;  I  have  prayed  for  it;  I  have 
watched  for  the  day  to  see  union  and  right  tmder- 
standing  between  the  Godly  people — Scots,  Eng- 
lish, Jews,  Gentiles,  Presbyterians,  Independents, 
Anabaptists,  and  all." 

The  whole  principle  of  religious  toleration  is 
summed  up  in  these  brief  sentences.  In  his 
higher  and  better  moments,  and  far  more  than 
most  men  of  his  generation,  Cromwell  tried  to 
live  up  to  them.  When  Mazarin,  the  great 
French  cardinal,  in  responding  to  Cromwell's  call 
for  toleration  of  the  Vaudois,  asked  toleration  for 
English  Catholics,  Cromwell  answered,  truly,  that 
he  had  done  all  he  could  in  face  of  the  hostile 
spirit  of  the  people,  and  more  than  had  before 
been  done  in  England.     Of  course  the  position  of 


Personal  Rule  213 

the  English  Catholics  was  beyond  all  comparison 
better  than  that  of  the  Vaudois ;  but  in  such  a  con- 
troversy the  ugly  fact  was  that  neither  side  would 
grant  to  others  what  it  demanded  for  itself.  To 
the  most  persecuted  of  all  peoples  Cromwell  did 
render  a  signal  service.  He  connived  at  the  set- 
tlement of  Jews  in  London,  after  having  in  vain 
sought  to  bring  about  their  open  toleration. 

In  Scotland,  the  rule  of  the  Protector  wrought 
unmixed  good.  There  was  no  persecution  and 
no  interference  with  religious  liberty,  save  in  so 
far  as  the  restraint  of  persecution  and  intolerance 
could  itself  be  called  such.  Monk,  and  Dean, 
after  him,  as  Cromwell's  lieutenants,  did  excellent 
work,  and  even  cautiously  endeavored  to  mitigate 
the  horrors  of  the  persecutions  for  witchcraft — for 
these  horrible  manifestations  of  superstition  were 
then  in  full  force  in  Scotland,  even  more  than  in 
either  old  or  New  England. 

On  the  whole,  then,  England  and  Scotland 
fared  well  under  Oliver  Cromwell— "  Old  Noll," 
as  he  was  affectionately  called  by  his  mainstay, 
the  army.  In  Ireland,  the  case  was  different. 
Materially,  even  in  Ireland,  the  conditions  greatly 
improved  during  the  Protectorate,  because  order 
was  rigidly  preserved  and  law  enforced ;  and  any 
system  which  secured  order  and  law  were  bound 
to  bring  about  a  temporary  bettering  of  condi- 
tions when  contrasted  with  the  frightful  anarchy 


214  Oliver  Cromwell 

which  had  preceded  it.  Anarchy  always  serves 
simply  as  the  handmaiden  of  despotism,  as  those 
who  bring  it  about  should  know.  But  the  relig- 
ious element  in  the  Irish  problem  rendered  it  in- 
soluble by  the  means  then  adopted  for  its  solution. 
Cromwell  was  not  responsible  for  introducing  the 
methods  known  by  his  name.  They  were  the 
methods  then  imiversally  in  use  by  the  represen- 
tatives of  every  victorious  nationality  or  religion, 
in  dealing  with  a  beaten  foe.  The  only  difference 
was  that  Cromwell's  immense  energy  and  power 
enabled  him  to  apply  them  with  dreadful  effect- 
iveness. 

In  England,  Cromwell  stood  for  religious  tolera- 
tion, so  far  as  he  was  able.  Fanatics  who  thought 
themselves  incarnations  of  the  Saviour,  or  prophets 
of  a  new  dispensation,  or  who  indulged  in  indecent 
or  seditious  conduct,  or  who  disturbed  the  public 
peace  by  breaking  into  regular  churches,  of  course 
had  to  be  suppressed.  Nowadays,  most  offenders 
of  this  type  would  be  ignored,  and,  if  not,  they 
would  simply  be  arrested  by  the  police,  in  the 
course  of  the  ordinary  exercise  of  the  police  power, 
just  as  any  other  disturbers  of  the  peace  are 
arrested.  In  those  days,  however,  such  offenders 
would  have  been  ptmished  with  death  in  Spain, 
Italy,  or  Austria ;  and,  indeed,  in  most  continental 
countries.  In  the  England  of  Cromwell,  they 
were  merely  temporarily  imprisoned.     The  atti- 


Personal  Rule  215 

tude  of  mind,  both  of  the  pubHc  generally  and  of 
the  best  and  most  religious  people,  toward  Unita- 
rians, Socinians,  and  those  who  would  nowadays 
be  called  Free-Thinkers,  was  purely  medieval ;  and 
even  Cromwell  could  only  moderate  the  persecu- 
tion to  which  they  were  subjected.  But  these 
were  minor  exceptions.  For  the  majority  of  the 
people  in  England,  there  was  religious  liberty ;  and 
for  the  bulk  of  the  minority,  though  there  was  not 
complete  religious  liberty,  there  was  a  nearer  ap- 
proach to  it  than  obtained  in  continental  Europe. 
In  Ireland,  on  the  other  hand,  the  public  exer- 
cise of  the  faith  of  the  enormous  majority  was 
prohibited,  and  their  religious  teachers  expelled. 
There  is  a  popular  belief  that  imder  Cromwell  all 
Irishmen  were  expelled  from  three-fourths  of  the 
island,  and  driven  into  Connaught,  their  places 
being  taken  by  English  and  Scotch  immigrants. 
While  exceedingly  cruel,  this  would  have  been 
an  imderstandable  policy,  and  would  have  resulted 
in  the  substitution  of  one  race  and  one  creed  for 
another  race  and  another  creed  throughout  the 
major  part  of  the  island.  What  was  actually 
done,  however,  combined  cruelty  with  ultimate 
inefficiency;  it  caused  great  immediate  suffering, 
while  perpetuating  exactly  the  conditions  against 
which  it  was  supposed  to  provide.  The  Catholic 
landholders  were,  speaking  generally,  driven  into 
Connaught,  and  the  priests  expelled,  while  the 


3i6  Oliver  Cromwell 

peasants,  laborers,  and  artisans  were  left  as  they 
were,  but  of  course  deprived  of  all  the  leadership 
which  could  give  them  a  lift  upward.  In  Ulster 
there  had  been  a  considerable  substitution  of  one 
race  for  the  other,  among  the  actual  tillers  and 
occupiers  of  the  soil.  Under  Cromwell,  the  change 
elsewhere  consisted  in  the  bringing  in  of  alien 
landlords.  In  other  words,  to  the  already  existing 
antagonism  of  race,  creed,  and  speech,  was  added 
the  antagonism  of  caste.  The  property-holder, 
the  landlord,  the  man  of  means,  was  an  English- 
man by  race  and  speech,  and  a  Protestant  by  faith ; 
while  the  mass  of  the  laborers  round  about  him 
were  Catholic  Celts  who  spoke  Erse.  Ultra 
admirers  of  Cromwell  and  the  Puritans  have 
actually  spoken  as  if  this  plan,  provided  only  that 
it  had  been  allowed  to  work  long  enough,  would 
have  produced  a  Puritan  Ireland.  There  was 
never  the  remotest  chance  of  its  producing  such 
an  effect.  The  mass  of  the  Irish,  when  all  their 
native  teachers  were  removed,  did  gradually  tend 
to  adopt  English  as  their  tongue,  but  their  devo- 
tion to  their  own  faith,  and  their  hatred  of  English 
rule,  were  merely  intensified ;  while  the  course  of 
the  governing  race  was  such  as  absolutely  to  in- 
sure the  land  troubles  which  have  riven  Ireland 
up  to  the  present  day.  The  very  imedifying 
intolerance  of  the  Protestant  sects  toward  one 
another  was  manifested  as  strongly  in  Cromwell's 


Personal  Rule  217 

time  as  later.  It  must  be  said  for  him  that  he  did 
not,  like  his  successors  for  generations,  shape  Eng- 
lish policy  toward  Ireland  on  the  lines  of  Spain's 
policy  toward  her  own  colonies,  and  oppress  the 
Protestant  descendants  of  the  English  in  Ireland 
only  less  than  the  native  Irish  themselves;  but 
the  great  central  fact  remains  that  this  Irish  policy 
was  one  of  bitter  oppression,  and  that  the  abhor- 
rence with  which  the  Irish,  to  this  day,  speak  of 
"the  curse  o'  Crummle,"  is  historically  justifiable. 
It  is  a  relief  to  turn  from  the  Cromwellian  policy 
in  Ireland  to  the  Cromwellian  policy  in  foreign 
affairs.  England  never  stood  higher  in  her  rela- 
tions with  the  outside  world  than  she  stood  imder 
Cromwell ;  a  height  all  the  more  noteworthy  be- 
cause it  lay  between  the  two  abysses  marked  by 
the  policy  of  the  earlier  and  the  later  Stuart  kings. 
The  French  biographer  of  the  great  Turenne,  du 
Buisson,  Major  of  the  Regiment  de  Verdelin, 
writing  in  the  days  of  Charles  II.,  when  England 
was  despised  rather  than  hated  on  the  Continent, 
spoke  with  a  mixture  of  horror  and  fear  of  Crom- 
well, as  the  man  who  ''aprh  V attentat  le  plus  ^norme 
dont  on  a  jamais  out  parler,  avoit  trouv^  le  secret  de  se 
faire  craindre,  non  seulement  des  Anglois,  mats  en- 
core des  Princes  voisins,''  This  was  written  as 
expressing  the  attitude  of  the  power  with  which 
he  was  in  alliance,  and  from  it  may  be  gathered 
how  those  felt  who  were  opposed  to  him. 


2i8  Oliver  Cromwell 

Cromwell's  strong  religious  feelings  and  mili- 
tary instincts,  alike  bade  him  meddle  in  the  policy 
of  the  Continent.  The  era  of  the  great  religious 
wars  was  closed.  More  than  a  century  was  to 
pass  before  the  era  of  religious  persecution  was  to 
cease,  but  the  time  had  gone  by  when  one  Chris- 
tian country  would  try,  by  force  of  arms,  to  con- 
quer another  for  the  purpose  of  stamping  out  its 
religious  belief.  Cromwell,  however,  did  not  see 
this,  and  he  naturally  chose  as  his  special  oppo- 
nent the  power  which  itself  was  equally  blind  to 
the  fact — that  is,  Spain.  Beyond  a  question,  he 
was  influenced  partly  by  the  commercial  and 
material  interests  of  England  in  the  policy  he 
pursued,  but  the  religious  motive  was  uppermost 
in  his  own  mind,  and  he  never  could  get  over  the 
feeling  that  it  ought  to  be  uppermost  in  the 
minds  of  everyone  else.  The  very  able  Swedish 
king,  Charles  X.,  was  then  pursuing  the  fatal 
policy  of  the  Swedish  kings  of  that  century,  and 
was  endeavoring  to  conquer  territory  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  Danes  and  North  Germans,  instead 
of  establishing,  to  the  east  and  southeast  of  the 
Baltic,  a  dominion  which  could  hold  its  own 
against  Russia.  Cromwell  selected  the  Swede  as 
the  natural  enemy  of  Antichrist,  and  wished  to 
back  him  in  a  general  religious  war.  He  was 
amusingly  irritated  with  the  English,  because  they 
would  not  feel  as  he  did,  and  even  more  with  the 


Personal  Rule  219 

Dutch,  Danes,  and  Brandenburgers  for  declining 
to  let  themselves  be  made  the  tools  of  the  northern 
king's  ambition. 

The  great  European  struggle  of  the  day,  how- 
ever, was  that  between  Spain  and  France,  and  for 
some  time  Cromwell  hesitated  which  side  to  take. 
He  has  often  been  blamed  for  not  striking  against 
France,  the  rising  power,  whose  then  youthful 
king  was  at  a  later  day  to  threaten  all  Europe,  and 
only  to  be  held  in  check  by  coalitions  in  which 
England  was  the  chief  figure.  But,  though 
France  persecuted  the  Huguenots  more  or  less, 
just  as  England  did  the  Irish  Catholics,  she  was 
far  more  advanced  than  Spain,  which  was  the 
most  bigoted  and  reactionary  power  of  Europe, 
both  in  religion  and  in  politics.  The  Spanish 
empire  was  still  very  great.  Though  her  power 
on  sea  had  gone,  on  land  she  had  on  the  whole 
held  her  own  against  the  French  armies,  and,  with 
England  as  her  ally,  she  might  for  the  time  being 
have  remained  the  leading  power  of  the  Continent. 
This  would  have  been  a  frightful  calamity,  and 
Cromwell  was  right  in  throwing  the  weight  of  his 
sword  on  the  other  side  of  the  scale. 

His  decision  enabled  him  to  do  one  of  the  most 
righteous  of  his  many  righteous  deeds.  It  was  at 
this  time  that  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  imder  ecclesias- 
tical pressure,  indulged  in  dreadful  persecutions  of 
the  htunble  Protestants  of  the  Vaudois  valleys ;  per 


220  Oliver  Cromwell 

secutions  which  called  forth  the  noblest  of  Milton's 
sonnets.  Oliver  interfered,  with  fiery  indignation, 
on  behalf  of  the  Vaudois,  threatening  that  if  the 
persecutions  continued  he  would  not  only  bring 
the  pressure  of  the  English  arms  to  bear,  but 
would  hire  a  great  force  of  mercenaries  among  the 
Protestant  Swiss  to  invade  the  territory  of  the 
Duke  of  Savoy.  Largely  through  the  influence 
of  Mazarin  he  succeeded  in  having  the  wrong  par- 
tially imdone;  and  later,  in  the  middle  of  the 
operations  against  the  Spanish  armies,  he  again 
interfered,  effectively,  with  the  Cardinal-States- 
man on  behalf  of  his  obscure  and  helpless  co- 
religionists in  the  remote  mountain  valleys.  This 
action  was  purely  disinterested;  and  those  who 
are  loudest  in  their  denunciation  of  Cromwell 
would  do  well  to  remember  that,  if  the  European 
rulers  at  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century  had 
possessed  his  capacity  for  generous'  indignation 
on  behalf  of  the  oppressed,  the  Armenian  mas- 
sacres either  would  never  have  taken  place,  or 
would  have  been  followed  by  the  immediate  ex- 
pulsion of  the  Turk  from  Europe. 

Oliver's  first  contest  with  the  Spaniards  was 
carried  on  by  sea,  the  great  Puritan  admiral, 
Blake,  winning  renown  by  his  victory  over  the 
forts  at  Santa  Cruz,  as  he  had  already  won  re- 
nown by  the  way  in  which  he  crushed  the  forces 
of  Tunis,  and  for  the  first  time  taught  the  Moors 


Personal  Rule  221 

to  respect  English  arms.  An  expedition  against 
San  Domingo  by  Penn  and  Venables  failed,  the 
English  leaders  being  treacherous  and  inefficient, 
but  it  resulted  in  the  capture  of  Jamaica  and  the 
founding  of  English  power  in  the  West  Indies. 
On  land,  as  the  result  of  the  convention  with 
France,  the  English  fleet  deprived  the  Spaniards  in 
the  Netherlands  of  assistance  from  the  sea,  while 
an  English  force  of  6,000  troops,  clad  in  the  red 
uniform  which  has  since  become  distinctive  of  the 
British  army,  was  sent  to  serve  imder  Turenne. 
They  overthrew  the  flower  of  the  Spanish  infantry, 
and  won  the  heartiest  praise  from  the  great  French 
leader.  The  help  given  by  Cromwell  was  decisive ; 
the  Spaniards  were  beaten  and  forced  to  make 
peace.  By  this  peace  France  became  the  first 
power  on  the  Continent,  but  a  power  heartily 
afraid  of  England  while  Cromwell  lived,  and 
obliged  to  yield  him  Dunkirk  as  the  price  of  his 
services.  The  possession  of  Dunkirk  put  a  com- 
plete stop  to  the  piracy  which  had  ravaged  British 
commerce,  and  gave  to  Cromwell  a  foothold  on 
the  Continent  which  rendered  him  able  to  enforce 
from  his  neighbors  whatever  consideration  the 
honor  and  interest  of  England  demanded. 

Meanwhile,  the  tone  of  his  Court  was  a  model 
of  purity  and  honesty.  Alone  among  the  Courts 
of  Europe  in  that  age,  imder  Cromwell  no  man 
could  rise  who  was  profligate  in  private  life,  or 


222  Oliver  Cromwell 

corrupt  in  public  life.  How  he  had  risen  socially 
is  shown  by  the  fact  that  his  remaining  daughters 
now  married  into  the  nobility.  His  domestic  rela- 
tions were  exceptionally  tender  and  beautiful,  and 
his  grief  at  the  loss  of  his  mother  and  his  favorite 
daughter — ^his  favorite  son  was  already  dead — 
was  very  great.  His  letters  to  and  about  his  sons 
are  just  what  such  letters  should  be.  He  explains 
that  he  does  not  grudge  them  ''laudable  recrea- 
tions nor  honorable  carriage  in  them,"  nor  any 
legitimate  expense,  but  that  he  does  emphatically 
protest  against  "pleasure  and  self-satisfaction 
being  made  the  business  of  a  man's  life." 

The  time  had  now  come,  however,  when  Oliver 
was  to  leave  alike  the  family  for  whom  he  had  so 
affectionately  cared,  and  the  nation  he  had  loved 
and  ruled,  and  go  before  the  God  to  whom  he  ever 
felt  himself  accountable.  When  1658  opened,  peace 
and  order  obtained  at  home,  and  the  crown  had 
been  put  to  England's  glory  abroad  by  the  victo- 
ries in  Flanders  and  the  cession  of  Dunkirk.  There 
was  not  the  slightest  chance  of  Cromwell's  hold 
on  the  nation  being  shaken.  So  far  as  human  eye 
could  see,  his  policy  was  sure  to  triumph,  as  long 
as  he  lived ;  but  he  was  weakened  by  his  hard  and 
strenuous  life,  and  the  fever,  by  which  he  had  been 
harassed  during  his  later  campaigns,  came  on  him 
with  renewed  force.  Even  his  giant  strength  had 
been  overtaxed  by  the  task  of  ruling  England 


Personal  Rule  223 

alone,  and,  as  he  conscientiously  believed,  for  her 
highest  interest.  Supreme  though  his  triumph 
seemed  to  outsiders,  he  himself  knew  that  he 
had  failed  to  make  the  effects  of  this  triumph 
lasting,  though  he  never  seems  to  have  suspected 
that  his  failure  was  due  to  his  incapacity  to  subor- 
dinate his  own  imperious  will  so  that  he  might 
work  with  others.  He  saw  clearly  the  chaos  into 
which  his  death  would  plimge  England,  and  he 
did  not  wish  to  die ;  but  as  he  grew  weaker  he  felt 
that  his  hour  was  come,  and  surrendered  himself 
to  the  inevitable. 

**  I  would  be  willing  to  live  to  be  further  ser- 
viceable to  God  and  His  people,"  muttered  the 
dying  ruler,  showing,  as  ever,  his  strange  mixture 
of  belief  in  himself  and  trust  in  the  Most  High; 
"but  my  work  is  done!  Yet  God  will  be  with 
His  people!" 

September  came  in  with  a  terrible  storm,  the 
like  of  which  had  rarely  been  known  in  England, 
and  as  it  subsided,  on  September  3,  the  day  which 
had  witnessed  the  victories  of  Dimbar  and  Wor- 
cester, the  soul  of  the  greatest  man  who  has  ruled 
England,  since  the  days  of  the  Conquest,  passed 
quietly  away.* 

*  In  the  queer  little  weekly  paper  "  The  Commonwealth 
Merctiry,"  of  the  issue  "  From  Thursday,  September  2d  to 
Thursday,  September  9th,  1658,"  which  contains  an  account 
of  Cromwell's  death  and  of  his  son's  installation,  it  happens 
that  there  is  also  an  advertisement  of  a  pamphlet  :   **A  few 


224  Oliver  Cromwell 

With  his  death  came  the  chaos  he  had  fore- 
seen, though  he  had  not  foreseen  that  it  could  be 
averted  only  by  the  substitution  of  some  form  of 
self-government  by  the  people,  for  the  arbitrary 
rule  of  one  man — ^however  great  and  good  that 
man  might  be.  For  a  few  months  his  son,  Rich- 
ard, ruled  as  Protector  in  his  stead,  but,  the  Pro- 
tectorate having  become  in  effect  a  despotism,  it 
was  sure  to  slip  from  any  but  Oliver's  iron  grasp. 
Richard  called  a  Parliament,  but  Parliaments  had 
been  hopelessly  discredited  by  Oliver's  method  of 
dealing  with  them.  The  army  revolted,  forced 
the  dismissal  of  the  Parliament,  and  then  the 
abdication  of  Richard.  Richard's  abler  brother, 
Henry,  who  was  governing  Ireland  as  deputy, 
resigned  also,  and  the  Cromwells  passed  out  of 
history. 

For  some  months  there  was  confusion  worse 
confounded,  and  the  whole  nation  turned  toward 
Charles  II.,  and  the  reestablishment  of  the  Stuart 
kingship.  Monk,  the  ablest  of  Cromwell's  gen- 
erals, a  soldier  who  cared  little  for  forms  of  civil 
government,  who  had  already  fought  for  the 
Stuarts  against  the  Parliament,  and  who  would 
have  stood  by  Richard  had  Richard  possessed 

sighs  from  Hell,  or  the  Groans  of  a  damned  Soul :  By  that 
poor  servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  John  Bunyan."  Cromwell,  Mil- 
ton, Bunyan — what  can  non-Puritan  England,  of  their  day, 
show  to  match  these  three  names  ? 


Personal  Rule  ^^5 

the  strength  to  stand  by  himself,  threw  his  weight 
in  favor  of  the  exiled  king,  and  thereby  prevented 
the  slightest  chance  of  opposition.  Charles  II. 
returned,  greeted  with  transports  of  frantic  delight 
by  seemingly  almost  the  whole  people. 

The  King  and  his  followers  then  took  revenge 
on  the  dead  body  of  the  man  whose  living  eyes 
they  had  never  dared  to  face.  The  bones  of 
Cromwell,  of  his  mother,  and  of  Ireton,  were  dis- 
interred and  thrown  into  a  lime-pit ;  and  the  head 
of  the  great  Protector  was  placed  on  a  pole  over 
Westminster  Hall,  there  to  stand  for  twenty  years. 

The  skull  of  the  mighty  crown -grasper,  before 
whose  imtamable  soul  they  had  shuddered  in 
terror,  was  now  set  on  high  as  a  target  for  the 
jeering  mockery  of  all  who  sang  the  praises  of  the 
line  of  libertines  and  bigots  to  whom  the  English 
throne  had  been  restored.  For  twenty-eight 
shameful  years  the  Restoration  lasted;  years  of 
misgovemment  and  persecution  at  home,  of 
weakness  abroad,  of  oppression  of  the  weak,  and 
obsequious  servility  to  the  strong;  years  when 
the  Court  of  England — devoid  of  one  spark  of 
true  greatness  of  any  kind — was  a  scene  of  tawdry 
and  obscene  frivolity.  Then,  once  again,  the 
principles  for  which,  in  the  last  analysis,  Cromwell 
and  the  Puritans  stood,  triumphed;  the  Dutch 
stadtholder  came  over  the  narrow  seas  to  ascend 
the  throne  of  England;  and  once  more  the 
15 


226  Oliver  Cromwell 

current  of  her  national  life  set  toward  political, 
intellectual,  and  religious  liberty. 

Cromwell  and  the  Puritans  had  gone  too  far, 
and  the  reaction  against  them  had  been  so  violent 
that  those  who  called  William  of  Orange  into 
England  dared  not  invoke  the  memory  of  the 
mighty  dead  lest  they  should  hurt  the  cause  of 
the  living.  Nevertheless,  the  Revolution  of  1688 
was  in  reality  but  the  carrying  on  of  the  work 
which  had  been  done  in  the  middle  of  the  century. 
James  II.  could  never  have  been  deposed  had  not 
Charles  I.  been  executed.  The  men  of  the  second 
Revolution  had  learned  the  moderation  which 
the  men  of  the  first  had  lacked.  They  were  care- 
ful not  to  kill  the  king  of  whom  they  wished  to  rid 
themselves;  for  though,  by  every  principle  of 
equity,  a  tyrant  who  has  goaded  his  people  into 
revolution — like  the  leader  of  an  imjustifiable 
rebellion — should  suffer  the  fate  which  he  has 
brought  on  so  many  others,  yet,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  it  is  often  unwise  to  treat  him  as  he  deserves, 
because  he  has  become  a  symbol  to  his  followers, 
each  of  whom  identifies  himself  with  the  man 
whose  cause  he  has  been  supporting,  and  in  whose 
name  he  has  been  fighting,  and  resents,  with  pas- 
sionate indignation,  any  punishment  visited  upon 
his  chief  as  a  wrong  in  which  he  personally  shares. 
The  men  of  1688  were,  as  a  whole,  actuated  by  far 
less  lofty  motives  than  the  men  of  1648 ;  but  they 


Personal  Rule  227 

possessed  the  inestimable  advantages  of  common 
sense,  of  moderation,  of  readiness  to  accept  com- 
promises. They  made  no  attempt  to  realize  the 
reign  of  the  saints  upon  earth ;  and  therefore  they 
were  able  to  work  a  permanent  betterment  in 
mtindane  affairs,  and  to  avoid  provoking  a  violent 
reaction.  William,  both  by  position  and  by  tem- 
per, was  far  better  fitted  than  great  Oliver  to  sub- 
mit to  interference  with  his  plans,  to  get  on  with 
representative  bodies  of  freemen,  and  to  make  the 
best  he  could  out  of  each  situation  as  it  arose, 
instead  of  indignantly  setting  his  own  will  above 
law  and  above  the  will  of  the  majority,  because 
for  the  moment  the  result  might  be  better  for 
himself  and  the  nation.  Speaker  Reed  once  said, 
that  "in  the  long  nm,  the  average  sense  of  the 
many  is  better  for  the  many  than  the  best  sense 
of  any  one  man ;"  and  this  is  xmdoubtedly  true  of 
all  people  sufficiently  high  in  the  scale  to  be  fit  for 
self-government . 

Oliver  surely  strove  to  live  up  to  his  lights  as 
he  saw  them.  He  never  acted  in  levity,  or  from 
mere  motives  of  personal  aggrandizement,  and  he 
saw,  with  sad,  piercing  eyes,  the  dangers  that 
rolled  around  the  path  he  had  chosen.  He  acted 
as  he  did  because  he  conscientiously  felt  that  only 
thus  could  he  meet  the  needs  of  the  nation.  He 
said  to  the  second  Protectorate  Parliament:  "I 
am  a  man  standing  in  the  place  I  am  in ;  which 


228  Oliver  Cromwell 

place  I  iindertook,  not  so  much  out  of  hope  of 
doing  any  good,  as  out  of  a  desire  to  prevent  mis- 
chief and  evil — which  I  did  see  was  imminent  on 
the  nation  (for  we  were  running  along  into  con- 
fusion and  disorder,  and  would  have  necessarily 
run  into  blood)." 

We  are  often  told  that  the  best  of  all  possible 
governments  would  be  a  benevolent  despotism. 
Oliver's  failure  is  a  sufficient  commentary  upon 
this  dictum  of  the  parlor  doctrinaires.  There 
never  has  been,  and  probably  never  will  be,  an- 
other despotism  where  the  despot  so  sincerely 
strove  to  do,  for  a  people  capable  of  some  measure 
of  freedom,  better  than  they  themselves  would 
have  done  with  that  freedom.  The  truth  is,  that 
a  strong  nation  can  only  be  saved  by  itself,  and 
not  by  a  strong  man,  though  it  can  be  greatly 
aided  and  guided  by  a  strong  man.  A  weak 
nation  may  be  doomed  anyhow,  or  it  may  find  its 
sole  refuge  in  a  despot;  a  nation  struggling  out 
of  darkness  may  be  able  to  take  its  first  steps  only 
by  the  help  of  a  master  hand,  as  was  true  of 
Russia,  tmder  Peter  the  Great;  and  if  a  nation, 
whether  free  or  unfree,  loses  the  capacity  for  self- 
government,  loses  the  spirit  of  sobriety  and  of 
orderly  liberty,  then  it  has  no  cause  to  complain 
of  tyranny;  but  a  really  great  people,  a  people 
really  capable  of  freedom  and  of  doing  mighty 
deeds  in  the  world,  must  work  out  its  own  destiny, 


Personal  Rule  229 

and  must  find  men  who  will  be  its  leaders — ^not  its 
masters.  Cromwell  could,  in  all  probability,  have 
been  such  a  leader  at  the  end  as  he  was  during  his 
early  years  of  public  life ;  and  when  he  permitted 
himself  to  fall  from  the  position  of  a  leader  among 
free  men,  to  that  of  a  master  over  men  for  whose 
welfare  he  sincerely  strove,  but  in  whose  freedom 
he  did  not  beHeve,  he  marred  the  great  work  he 
had  done.  Nevertheless,  it  was  a  very  great  work. 
There  are  dark  blots  on  his  career — especially  his 
Irish  policy — but  on  the  whole  he  was  a  mighty 
force  for  good  and  against  evil,  and  the  good 
that  he  did,  though  buried  for  the  moment  with 
his  bones,  rose  again  and  has  Hved  ever  since, 
while  the  evil  has  long  withered,  or  is  now  wither- 
ing. The  English-speaking  peoples  are  free,  and 
for  good  or  for  ill  hold  their  destinies  in  their  own 
hands. 

The  effect  of  the  attitude  which  not  only  the 
Puritans,  but  all  other  Englishmen  of  every 
creed,  assumed  toward  Ireland  from  the  days  of 
Queen  Mary  to  the  days  of  King  George  the 
Fourth,  was  such  as  to  steep  the  island  in  cen- 
turies of  misery,  and  to  leave  in  her  people  a  bitter 
and  enduring  hatred  against  England.  Yet  this 
attitude  has  produced  one  result  of  the  most  im- 
foreseen  kind.  Had  the  Irish  remained  a  Celtic 
nation,  separate  in  speech  and  government  from 
Great  Britain,  they  could  have  had  no  share  in 


230  Oliver  Cromwell 

the  expansion  of  the  English  race,  or  at  least 
could  have  played  only  a  very  subordinate  part. 
As  it  is,  in  the  great  English-speaking  common- 
wealths that  have  grown  up  in  North  America 
and  Australasia,  the  descendants  of  the  Irish  now 
stand  on  an  exact  equality  with  those  of  the 
Scotch  and  English,  and  furnish  their  full  propor- 
tion of  leadership  in  the  government  of  the  com- 
munities; while  in  all  these  English-speaking 
cotintries  the  Catholic  Church  has  become  one  of 
the  leading  churches  and  has  had  its  course  of 
development  determined  by  the  fact  that  the  con- 
trolling force  within  it  has  been  Irish.  The  Eng- 
lish Protestants  failed  to  impress  their  creed  upon 
Ireland,  but  they  did  impress  their  language,  and 
did  bring  Ireland  imder  their  own  government. 
The  strange  outcome  has  been  that  the  creed  they 
hated  now  flourishes  side  by  side,  on  equal  terms, 
with  the  creeds  they  professed,  in  the  distant  con- 
tinents held  in  common  by  their  children  and  by 
the  children  of  those  against  whom  they  warred. 
In  these  new  continents  all,  Catholics  and  Prot- 
estants alike,  are  wedded  to  the  principles  of  politi- 
cal liberty  for  which  the  Puritans  fought,  and 
have  grown  to  extend  to  all  creeds  the  principles 
of  religious  liberty  in  which  only  the  best  and 
most  advanced  Puritans  believed.  Let  us  most 
earnestly  hope  that,  while  avoiding  the  Puritan 
fanaticism  and  intolerance,  the  Puritan  lack  of 


Personal  Rule  231 

charity  and  narrowness,  we  may  not  lose  the  Puri- 
tan loftiness  of  soul  and  stem  energy  in  striving 
for  the  right,  than  which  no  nation  could  ever 
have  more  precious  heritages. 

With  Oliver's  death  his  memory  passed  under 
a  cloud,  through  which  his  greatness  was  to  be 
but  dimly  seen  until  generations  of  men  had  Hved 
and  died.  He  left  many  descendants,  and  there 
are  now  in  England,  and  also  in  America,  and 
possibly  AustraHa,  very  many  men  and  women, 
in  all  ranks  of  life,  who  have  his  blood  in  their 
veins — though  in  the  direct  line  his  name  has 
died  out.  Even  during  the  present  century, 
when  among  the  English  upper  classes  it  was  still 
customary  to  speak  of  him  with  horror,  his  very 
descendants  in  certain  families  felt  keen  shame 
for  the  deeds  of  their  great  forefather.  With  a 
childishness  in  no  way  above  that  of  a  Congo 
savage,  it  was  actually  the  fashion  in  some  of 
these  families  to  make  the  children  do  penance 
on  the  anniversary  of  the  death  of  Charles  II.,  as 
a  kind  of  atonement  for  the  deeds  of  Cromwell. 
The  grotesque  nature  of  this  performance  is 
added  to  by  the  fact  that  in  that  very  society  a 
peculiarly  high  place  of  honor  was  accorded  to 
the  titled  descendants  of  Charles  II.  and  his  mis- 
tresses. One  hardly  knows  whether  to  be  most 
amused  or  indignant  at  such  fantastic  incapacity 
to  appreciate  what  was  really  noble  and  what 


232  Oliver  Cromwell 

really  ignoble.  The  men  among  whom  such 
false  conventions  obtained  could  not  be  expected 
to  see  in  its  true  proportions  the  form  of  mighty 
Oliver,  looming  ever  larger  across  the  intervening 
centuries.  Sooner  or  later,  justice  will  be  done 
him;  sooner  or  later,  he  will  be  recognized,  not 
only  as  one  of  the  greatest  of  all  Englishmen,  and 
by  far  the  greatest  ruler  of  England  itself,  but  as 
a  man  who,  in  times  that  tried  men's  souls,  dealt 
with  vast  questions  and  solved  tremendous  prob- 
lems ;  a  man  who  erred,  who  was  guilty  of  many 
shortcomings,  but  who  strove  mightily  toward  the 
light  as  it  was  given  him  to  see  the  light ;  a  man 
who  had  the  welfare  of  his  countrymen  and  the 
greatness  of  his  country  very  close  to  his  heart, 
and  who  sought  to  make  the  great  laws  of  right- 
eousness living  forces  in  the  government  of  the 
world. 


INDEX 


Abolition,  in  United  States, 
186 

Abolitionists,  99,  185 

Adamses,  the,  35 

Agathokles,  203 

Ale-houses,  suppressed  under 
Protectorate,  206,  207 

Alva,  150 

America,  Protestants  and 
Catholics  in,  11;  freedom 
from  militarism  in  eigh- 
teenth century,  19;  power 
of  compromise  after  Revo- 
lution, 96;  true  greatness 
of,  173;  city  government 
in,  207;  Cromwell's  de- 
scendants in,  231 

American  Civil  War,  com- 
pared with  English  Civil 
Wars,  5,  6,  58,  59;  citizen 
soldiers  in,  62;  West  Point 
in,  65 ;  cavalry  in,  67 ;  com- 
promises after,  98;  gener- 
osity of  victors,  209 

American  Revolution,  War 
of  the,  comparisons  with 
English  Revolution  of 
1688,  6;  with  English  Civil 
Wars,  59;  its  citizen  sol- 
diers, 62;  regular  soldiery, 
88;  compromises  after,  96; 
Washington,  97;  events 
preceding,  109;  Continen- 
tal Congress  in,  171,  clem- 
ency following,  209 

Americans,  majority  rule  nat- 
ural to,  24;  regicide  senti- 
mentalists    among,     133; 


religious  toleration,  155; 
character  of,  in  eighteenth 
century,  184 

Anabaptists,  74,  98,  138,  306, 
212 

Anglican  Church,  its  Pres- 
byterian trend  under  Eliza- 
beth, 22;  its  influence  on 
Charies  I.'s  Third  Parha- 
ment,  28 

Antichrist,  218 

Appomattox, Sheridan  at,  165 

Argyle,  joins  Whigamore 
raid,  125;  ally  of  Crom- 
well, 125 

Armenian  massacres,  220 

Arminianism,  in  Holland,  12 

Arminius,  12 

Army,  the  Cavalier,  61 

Army,  American  Continental, 

97 
Army,  the  English,  in  Civil 
Wars,  composition  of,  58; 
first  raised  by  nobles,  61; 
reorganization  of  Parlia- 
mentary forces,  90;  char- 
acter in  Charles  I.'s  time, 
103;  dissensions,  104  et  sea.; 
its  strength  against  the 
Parliament,  1 1 1 ;  its  strug- 
gles with  the  King  and  Par- 
liament, 112  et  seq.;  its 
spirit,  116;  odds  against  it 
in  Second  Civil  War,  119; 
Charles  I.'s  negotiations 
with,  129;  march  into  Lon- 
don, 131 ;  revolt  suppressed 
by  Cromwell,  138;  its  dis- 


233 


234 


Index 


tinctive  character,  140;  its 
influence  in  Long  Parlia- 
ment, lyi  et  seq.;  offset  by 
navy,  178;  rejects  Parlia- 
mentary measures,  178; 
supports  Cromwell,  179; 
attitude  under  Protector- 
ate, 192;  protests  against 
Cromwell's  accepting 
Kingship,  207;  serves 
under Turenne,  221 ;  revolts 
against  Richard  C  r  o  m- 
well,  224 

Army,  the  Scottish,  gives  up 
Charles  I.,  112 

Artillery,  chief  means  of  as- 
sault in  Cromwell's  time,  57 

Assembly,  formed  under 
Protectorate  ,i82,i85etseq. 

Associations,  of  counties,  60; 
assessed  for  Parliamenta- 
rians, 76.  See  also  Eastern 
Association 

Astley,  Sir  Jacob,  quoted,  95 

Aston,  Sir  Arthur,  at  Drog- 
heda,  148,  149 

Atlantic  Ocean,  the,  173 

Australasia,  230;  English  ex- 
pansion there,  230 

Australia,  Cromwell's  descen- 
dants in,  231 

Australians,  in  South  Africa, 
64 

Balgony,  Lord,  at  Marston 
Moor,  84 

Baltic  Sea,  the,  219 

Baptists,  the,  origin  under 
James  I.,  22;  tolerated  by 
Cromwell,  75;  army  senti- 
ment toward,  103;  Parlia- 
mentary hatred  of,  in; 
under    the     Protectorate, 

Barbadoes,     Irish     sent     as 

slaves  there,  149 
Barbon,  "Praise-God,"  184 


"  Barebones'Tarliament,  for- 
mation of,  184,  187  et  seq.; 
attacks  Courts  of  Chancery, 
193.205 

Basing  House,  capture  of,  94 

Baxter,  71 

Beard,  Thomas,  Cromwell's 
tutor,  42 

Bedford,  Earl  of,  44 

Bench  and  bar,   courage  in, 

175 

Berwick,  seized  by  Royal- 
ists, 116 

Bishops,  the,  attitude  of,  to- 
ward Thirty  Years'  War, 
29;  Parliamentary  resolu- 
tions against,  30;  army 
sentiment  toward,  103 

Bishops'  Wars,  the  cause  of, 
3  9 ;  Scotch  share  in ,  119 

Blake,  Admiral,  in  Parlia- 
ment, 112;  defeats  Prince 
Rupert,  125;  his  great 
fame,  176,  177,  178;  his 
indifference  toward  Crom- 
well, 194;  his  victory  at 
Santa  Cruz,  220 

Boers,  as  soldiers,  64;  belated 
Cromwellians,  139;  com- 
pared   with    Covenanters, 

159 

Border,  the,  in  Civil  Wars,  52, 
80,  125,  126,  168 

Boston,  U.  S.  A.,  regicide 
sentimentalismin,  133 

Boston  Harbor,  tea  thrown 
overboard  in,  33 

Bouchier,  Elizabeth,  wife  of 
Oliver  Cromwell,  41 

Brandenburghers,  219 

Breast-pieces,  57 

Bristol,  capture  of,  94;  Crom- 
well's letter  from,  loi, 102 

British  Islands,  the  Com- 
monwealth in,  171 

Buchanan,  President,  his 
views  on  secession,  158 


Index 


235 


Buckingham,  Dtike  of,  his 
corrupt  ministry,  25;  his 
assassination,  27 

Buff  coats,  uniform  of  Par- 
Hamentarians,  57,61;  worn 
by  RoyaHsts  at  Winches- 
ter, 80 

Buisson,  de,  quoted,  217 

Bunyan,  John,  66,  224, 
note 

Bureau  of  IntelHgence,  Chief 
of.     See  Scout-master 

Burleigh  House,  taken  by 
ParHamentarians,  77 

Byzantine  Emperors,  166 

Cadiz,  Charles  I.'s  expedition 
against,  25 

Calvin,  his  zeal  for  righteous- 
ness, 7 

Calvinism,  in  Holland,  1 2 ;  its 
influence  in  England,  28 ;  in 
Scotland,  159 

Calvinists,  their  intolerance 
of  Roman  Catholics,  1 2 

Cambridge,  University  of, 
Cromwell's  residence  there, 
41;  its  plate  seized  by 
Cromwellians,  67 

Canadians,  in  South  Africa, 
64 

Cannon,  Cromwell's  lack  of, 
at  Pembroke,  117 

Captain- General,  Cromwell's 
office  of,  157,  182 

Carbines,  ^7;  discarded  by 
Cromwellians,  76 

Carlyle,  taken  by  Royalists, 
*ii6 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  his  opinion 
of  Cromwell,  i,  2;  of  Pu- 
ritanism,  2;    on    regicide, 

134 

Camsworth,  Earl  of,  92 

Casques,  61 

Catholic  Church,  its  recogni- 
tion in  Ireland  demanded 


by  the  Pope,  143;  modem 
greatness  of,  230 

Catholics,  aimed  at  by  Third 
Parliament,  30;  unite  with 
Royalists  and  Presbyte- 
rians in  Ireland,  115,  116; 
character  of,  in  Ireland, 
141 ;  aid  of,  for  Charles  II., 
142;  dissensions  in  Ireland, 
1 41 -1 44;  Cromwellian  ha- 
tred of,  147,  155,  156;  per- 
secutions of,  209,  210;  Maz- 
arin's  plea  for  them  in 
England,  212;  as  land- 
holders in  Ireland,  215; 
their  share  in  British  ex- 
pansion to-day,  230.  See 
also  Roman  Catholics 

Cavaliers,  dress  of,  61;  at 
Grantham,  76;  at  Marston 
Moor,  85;  at  Naseby,  92; 
rising  against  army,  115; 
support  Charles  I.  in  the 
North,  116;  Cromwell's 
opinion  of,  118;  allegiance 
to  Charles  II.  in  Scotland, 
166;  at  Stirling,  168,  at 
Worcester,  169 

Cavalry,  its  superiority  to 
infantry,  57,  58;  among 
the  Royalists,  67;  horse 
the  true  weapon  of,  76; 
at  Gainsborough,  78,  79; 
Scotch  at  Marston  Moor, 
84,  85;  Naseby,  92;  Iron- 
sides spirit  in,  102;  Ham- 
ilton's, 117;  at  Preston, 
122 

Cavendish,  Lord,  at  Gains- 
borough, 78 

Celtic,  15,  216 

Celts,  the,  16,  141,  216 

Censorship  of  press,  estab- 
lished under  Protectorate, 
208 

Charles  I.,  his  ignoble  peace, 
18,  19;  his  private  cnarac- 


23^ 


Index 


ter,  24;  helplessness  of 
English  arms  under  his 
rule,  25;  his  Third  Parlia- 
ment, 26 ;  yields  to  Petition 
of  Right,  27;  his  dissolu- 
tion of  his  Third  Parlia- 
ment, 30;  rejects  Petition 
of  Right,  3 1 ;  embarks  on 
Bishops'  Wars,  39;  his  at- 
titude toward  the  Long 
Parliament,  49;  betrays 
Strafford,  50;  makes  terms 
with  the  Scotch,  53 ;  impris- 
ons Puritan  leaders,  55 ;  his 
adherents  in  the  Com- 
mons, 58;  marches  on  Lon- 
don, 68;  turn  of  tide  in  his 
favor,  76;  makes  overtures 
to  the  Irish,  80;  defeats 
Waller  at  Copredy  Bridge, 
87;  his  army  at  Newbury, 
89;  at  Naseby,  91,  93;  sur- 
renders to  Scotch  army,  94 ; 
English  servility  toward 
him,  97 ;  his  treachery,  100; 
supported  by  Presbyte- 
rians, 104;  "the  man  of 
blood,"  109;  his  non-ac- 
ceptance of  his  defeat,  1 1 1 ; 
negotiates  with  the  army 
and  Parliament,  112  et 
seq. ;  Cromwell  attempts 
terms  with  him,  114; 
Yorkshire  support  for,  117; 
Scotch  attitude  toward 
him,  118;  his  tenacity,  127; 
negotiations  with  the  army, 
129;  he  rejects  Fairfax's 
proposals,  130;  his  trial 
for  treason,  131;  beheaded, 
132;  his  character,  132, 
135;  his  policy  in  Ireland, 
141;  Catholic  allegiance  to 
him,  142;  his  imprison- 
ment, 143;  effect  of  his 
execution  on  Ireland,  145; 
his  execution,  209 


Charles  II.,  the  fleet  loyal  to 
him,  124;  proclaimed  King 
at  Cork,  14^;  the  Scotch 
declare  for  him,  156;  lands 
In  Scotland,  159  et  seq.; 
supported  by  Scotch  Cava- 
liers, 166;  crosses  into  Eng- 
land, 168;  his  escape  from 
Worcester,  169;  his  exile, 
172;  influences  for  his  res- 
toration, 201;  England  in 
his  time,  217;  his  re-estab- 
lishment, 224;  his  mis- 
tresses, 231 

Charles  X.,  of  Sweden,  218 

Chester,  seized  by  Royalists, 
116 

Christianity,  heterodoxy  in 
Parliamentary,  104 

Church  and  State,  Puritan 
theories  of,  no;  reform  in, 
188 

Churchmen,  arbitrary  power 
of,  155 

Civil  War.  See  American 
Civil  War 

Civil  War,  First  English,  the 
fiery  ordeal  of,  19;  begun 
by  Charles,  55;  its  chief 
leaders  cavalrymen,  58; 
its  blunders  contrasted 
with  American  Civil  War, 
59;  English  soldiery  in,  87; 
its  slow  progress,  90;  type 
of  its  generals,  91;  practi- 
cally ends  at  Naseby,  93; 
its  effects  on  Cromwell,  99; 
Irish  share  in,  117;  ex- 
change of  prisoners,  12^ 

Civil  War,  Second  English, 
its  beginning,  116;  ended 
at  Preston  ,124;  results  ,126 

Clergy,  75;  threatened  by 
Protectorate  Assembly,  185 

Clonmel,  capture  of,  157 

Clubmen,  peasant  organiza- 
tion, 60 


Index 


237 


Cock-fighting,  suppressed  un- 
der Protectorate,  206 

Colchester,  seized  by  Royal- 
ists, 116;  capitulation  of, 
124 

Colonial  policy,  Spain's,  217 

Colonial  possessions,  Span- 
ish, 218;  Dutch,  17 

Commercial  policy,  Crom- 
well's, in  war  agamst  Spain, 
218 

Committee  of  Both  King- 
doms, the,  82,  88 

Committee  of  Correspond- 
ence, in  American  Revolu- 
tion, 109 

Committee  of  the  Eastern 
Association,  82 

Common  law,  the,  imder  the 
Protectorate,  193 

Commons,  House  of,  declares 
against  tonnage  and 
poundage,  30;  triennial 
meetings,  52;  favored  by 
London,  55;  its  adherents 
of  the  King,  58 ;  Cromwell's 
share  in,  89 ;  the  Independ- 
ents, 112;  defies  the  army, 
113,  130;  disregards  Lords 
in  the  King's  trial,  131 ;  Par- 
liamentarian leaders,  179; 
Republicans,  197;  agree- 
ment with  Cromwell,  198. 
See  also  Parliament; 
Long  Parliament,  etc. 

Commonwealth,  established, 
6 ;  reorganizes  its  forces,  89 ; 
its  supremacy,  134;  its 
character,  136;  European 
attitude  against  it,  138; 
Cromwell  its  main  support, 
15^;  authority,  171;  its 
religionist  enemies,  191; 
civil  rights  under  it,  20^ 

Commonwealth  Mercury,  The, 
223,  note 

Compromise,    Parliamentary 


incapacity  for,  97;  after 
American  Civil  War,  98 

Confederacy,  the,  of  Ameri- 
can Southern  States,  67, 
88 

Confederates  in  Ireland,  145 

Congregationalists,  origin 
under  Elizabeth,  22;  iden- 
tified with  Independent 
party,  47;  tolerated  by 
Cromwell,  75;  in  Parlia- 
ment, 104;  Parliamenta- 
rian hatred  of,  iii;  under 
the  Protectorate,  193 

Congress,  the  American  Con- 
tinental, compared  with 
Cromwellian  Parliaments, 
97-99,  109,  171 

Connaught,  21^ 

Conquest,  the  [Norman],  223 

Constitution,  the  American, 
182,  186,  190,  191 

Constitution,  English,  130; 
under  the  Assembly,  188, 
191;  under  the  Protector- 
ate, 197 

' '  Constitution-mongers,  "Car- 
lyle's  sneer  at,  5 

Continent,  the,  character  of 
its  armies,  58;  Cromwell's 
interest  in  its  politics,  217; 
the  power  of  France  on, 
221 

Continental  Army,  the  Amer- 
ican, 97 

Convention,  Constitutional, 
in  U.  S.,  182;  in  English 
Assembly,  185,  188 

Coote,  holds  Derry  for  Parli- 
amentarians, 145 

Copredy   Bridge,   Battle   of, 

Cork,  Charles  II.  proclaimed 
King  there,  145;  Crom- 
well s   letter    from    there, 

154 
Cornwall,  neutrality  of,  60 


238 


Index 


Cotton,  John,  Cromwell's  let- 
ter to,  173 

Council  ot  Officers,  in  Eng- 
lish Assembly,  188,  igo  et 
seq. 

Council,  the,  in  Parliamen- 
tary army,  109 

Council  of  State,  the,  182,  188 

Court,  purity  of  Cromwellian, 
221;  disgracefulness  under 
Restoration,  225 

Courts  of  Chancery,  English, 
175, 186 

Covenant,  National,  of  Scot- 
land, the,  37;  taken  by 
Parliamentarians,  75;  by 
English  troopers,  80;  Ham- 
litonian  devotion  to,  118; 
taken  by  Ulster  Scotch, 
142;  Fairfax  declines  cam- 
paign against,  157;  oath 
taken  by  Charles  II.,  159; 
Cromwell's  exposition  of, 
166  et  seq. 

Covenanters,  the  Scotch,  de- 
feated by  Cromwell,  72; 
intolerance  of  sectaries, 
iii;  treatment  of  Charles 
II.,  159;  oppose  Puritans 
at  Dunbar,  164;  persecu- 
ted by  Episcopalians,  210 

Creed,  in  United  States,  2,  9; 
in  Ireland,  216,  230 

Cromwell,  Bridget,  daughter 
of  Oliver,  married  to  Ire- 
ton,  100 

Cromwell,  Elizabeth  Stew- 
ard, mother  of  Oliver,  40, 
225 

Cromwell,  Henry,  son  of 
Oliver,  224 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  his  fame, 
i;  forces  which  produced 
him,  7;  youth  and  early 
manhood,  14;  seat  in  Long 
Parliament,  40;  parentage 
and  birth,  40;  his  marriage, 


41;  his  Puritanism,  42; 
hatred  of  Church  of  Rome, 
42,  54;  removes  to  Ely,  43; 
supports  Petition  of  Rights, 
43;  his  indifference  to  po- 
litical theory,  44;  his  piety, 
45;  his  rehgion,  46;  person- 
ality, 47,  48;  impatience  of 
system,  51;  his  suspicion 
of  the  Episcopacy,  54;  cap- 
tain of  67th  Regiment,  55; 
his  kinsmen  at  the  battle 
of  Nottingham,  55_;_  his 
troops,  62;  his  military 
genius,  66;  his  troop  of 
horse,  67,  70-73;  pro- 
moted to  a  colonelcy,  71; 
his  letters,  73 ;  his  tolerant 
spirit,  74;  bearing  toward 
Episcopalians,  75;  as  cav- 
alry commander,  75; 
dubbed  Ironsides  by  Ru- 
pert, 77 ;  his  relief  of  Gains- 
borough,79 ;  atWinceby,79 ; 
his  generalship,  81;  mem- 
ber of  Committee  of  Both 
Kingdoms,  82;  at  Marston 
Moor,  83-87;  his  training 
of  troops,  88;  distrusted 
by  Presbyterians,  88;  the 
real  head  of  the  army,  90; 
Montrose  not  comparable 
with  him,  91;  at  Naseby, 
g2  et  seq.;  takes  Winches- 
ter, 94 ;  his  rule  after  First 
Civil  War,  95;  compared 
with  William  III.,  97  et 
seq.;  his  uncompromising 
spirit,  98;  his  children's 
marriages,  100;  his  reli- 
gious spirit,  100,  1 01;  his 
letters  and  speeches,  loi, 
102;  on  reconstruction, 
105  et  seq.;  not  extreme 
against  Charles,  109 ;  efiforts 
toward  agreement  with 
King  and  Parliament,  113; 


Index 


239 


favors  army  against  Par- 
liamentarians, 114;  at 
Pembroke,  117;  his  view 
of  the  Scotch,  118;  his 
reception  at  Edinburgh, 
126;  his  position  at  close 
of  Civil  Wars,  126;  mo- 
tives for  joining  Independ- 
ents, 128-130;  favors  the 
regicide,  131,  133-135;  l^is 
ambition,  136;  his  army, 
140;  his  Irish  campaign, 
145  et  seq.;  his  cruelty  at 
Drogheda,  149,  150;  Wex- 
ford, 152;  contradictions 
of  his  character,  1 53  et  seq.; 
excellent  conduct  of  Irish 
campaign,  156;  siimmoned 
from  Ireland  by  Parlia- 
ment, 156;  advances  on 
and  retreats  from  Edin- 
burgh, 161  et  seq.;  at  Dun- 
bar, 164-166;  his  dispute 
with  the  Kirk  party,  166 
et  seq.;  his  clemency,  168; 
attacks  Charles  11.  at 
Worcester,  169;  champions 
Independents,  173;  policy 
toward  Parliamentarians, 
174  et  seq.;  his  views  on 
Dutch  War,  178;  defeats 
non-reelection  bill,  180; 
his  statesmanship,  182  et 
seq.;  his  sermon  to  the 
Assembly,  185  ^<  seq.;  des- 
potism, 188;  first  Protec- 
tor, 190,  191;  his  peace 
with  the  Dutch,  194;  his 
conflict  with  Parliament, 
195  et  seq.;  his  govern- 
ment a  tyranny,  203  et  seq.; 
suppresses  the  ale-houses 
206,  207;  declines  the 
Kingship,  207;  his  views 
on  liberty,  212;  interferes 
in  Continental  affairs,  218 
et  seq.;  revenges  Vaudois 


massacres,  219,  220;  con- 
tests Spain  on  the  sea,  220; 
his  court,  221;  last  illness, 
222,  223;  death  224;  dese- 
cration of  his  remains  by 
Restorationists,  225;  com- 
pared with  William  III,, 
226,  227.;  political  ideals, 
227  et  seq.;  cruelty  of  his 
Irish  policy,  229;  posthu- 
mous reputation,  231 

Cromwell,  Richard,  son  of 
Oliver,  as  Protector,  224 

Cromwell,  Robert,  father  of 
Oliver,  40;  his  death,  41 

"Crummle,  the  curse  o'," 
217.  5(?^  Cromwell,  Oli- 
ver, and  Ireland 

Cuirassiers,  use  in  Parlia- 
mentary army,  57;  at 
Winceby,  79;  the  Scotch 
at  Marston  Moor,  85 

Czars,  the,  9 

Danes,  the,  Charles  X.'s  war 
against,  218 

Dean,  Colonel,  at  Preston, 
121;  in  Dutch  War,  177; 
his  rule  in  Scotland,  213 

Death  penalty,  a  cause  of 
sentimentalism,  132,  133; 
its  justice  on  tyrants,  226, 
227 

Declaration,  Cromwell's,  in 
Ireland,  153,  155 

Democracy,  Cromwell's  bear- 
ing toward,  204 

Derry,  siege  of,  145;  supports 
Parliamentarians,  147 

De  Ruyter,  176 

Despotism,  under  republics, 
21;  under  the  Stuarts,  27; 
under  Cromwell,  206;  a 
subject  of  doctrinaire  no- 
tions, 228 

Discipline,  a  military  neces- 
sity, 87;  a  source  of  sol- 


340 


Index 


diers'  ties,  103;  rigidly- 
enforced  by  Cromwell,  147 

Dissenters,  persecuted  under 
Elizabeth,  22;  aimed  at  by- 
Third  Parliament,  30;  po- 
sition under  the  Protec- 
torate, 193 

Dragoons,  57,  76;  Royalists 
at  Winceby,  79 

Drake,  14,  17 

Dreyfus  case,  the,  21 

Drilling,  excellence  of  Crom- 
well's troops  at  Winceby, 

79 

Drogheda,  siege  of,  46,  145; 
Parliamentarian  atrocities 
there,  148,  154^^5^^. 

Dublin,  Puritan  rule  there, 
141,  142;  surrendered  to 
Parliamentarians,  143;  Su- 
preme Council  of,  145; 
siege  of,  145;  Cromwell's 
troops  there,  147 

Duke,  Basil,  67 

Dunbar,  Leslie  engages  the 
English  there,  163  et  seq., 
166,  167;  fate  of  Scotch 
prisoners  captured  there, 
168;  anniversary  of,  191, 
223 

Dundalk,  surrender  of,  145; 
garrisoned    by    Cromwell, 

Dunkirk,  ceded  to  English, 
221, 222 

Dutch,  the,  their  sailors  in 
wars  with  Spain,  14;  op- 
pressions under  Spain,  35  ; 
Parliamentarian  war  with, 
175  et  seq.;  commercial  su- 
premacy, 177 ;  religious  tol- 
eration, 193;  peace  with 
England,  194;  war  with 
Charles  X.,  218 

Eastern  Association,  the,  60; 
the  Ironsides  in,  77;  com- 


mittee of,  82;  its  infantry 
at  Marston  Moor,  83-86 ;  its 
training,  88;  the  pattern 
for  the  New  Model,  90. 
See  also  Associations 

Edgehill,  battle  of,  68-70; 
Charles  I.'s  standard-bear- 
er there,  149 

Edinburgh,  Laud's  attempt 
to  introduce  the  Prayer- 
Book  there,  37 ;  Cromwell's 
reception  there,  126;  be- 
sieged by  Cromwell,  161; 
surrendered  to  Cromwell, 
168 

Edinburgh,  Governor  of,  166 

Eglinton,  Earl  of,  at  Marston 
Moor,  84 

Eliot,  Sir  John,  character  of, 
26;  his  leadership  in  Par- 
liament, 29,  30;  his  im- 
prisonment, 31;  death,  31; 
Charles  I.'s  vengeance  on, 
132 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  her  abso- 
lutism, 8;  her  bearing  to- 
ward Anglican  Church,  9; 
yields  to  the  monopolies, 
10;  her  veiled  despotism, 
21;  persecutes  Dissenters, 
22;  her  war  with  Spain  on 
the  sea,  56;  compared  with 
Cromwell,  204;  Puritan 
persecutions  in  her  reign, 
210 

Ely,  home  of  Cromwell's 
mother,  40,  43 

Ely  Cathedral,  Cromwell's 
interference  there,  75 

England,  champion  of  reli- 
gious liberty,  15,  20;  over- 
lordship  in  Ireland,  15,  16; 
peace  under  James  I.,  19; 
rural  and  agricultural  pop- 
ulation, 56;  military  expe- 
rience, 57;  political  inca- 
pacity in  Cromwell's  time. 


Index 


341 


106;  relation  with  Scot- 
land in  Second  Civil  War, 
118;  pitted  against  Scot- 
land under  the  Common- 
wealth, 158;  law  of,  175; 
her  carrying  trade  in 
Dutch  War,  176;  her  com- 
mercial greed,  177;  self- 
government,  185;  political 
freedom,  190;  Parliamen- 
tarian supremacy  in,  198; 
representative  govern- 
ment,  199;  condition  imder 
the  Protectorate,  204  et 
seq.,  209,  213  et  seq.,  217; 
her  Irish  policy,  219;  for- 
eign fame,  222;  condition 
after  Cromwell,  22%  et  se^.; 
Cromwell's  descendants  in, 
231 

England's  Freedom  and  Sol- 
diers' Rights,  cry  of,  114 

English,  the,  as  sailors  in  the 
Spanish  wars,  14;  their  ex- 
cellence as  military  mate- 
rial, 56;  love  of  sports,  56; 
serve  as  troops  in  Ireland, 
80;  at  Marston  Moor,  83; 
character  of,  in  seven- 
teenth century,  g6  et  seq.; 
in  India,  146;  their  treat- 
ment of  the  Irish,  156; 
capacity  for  self-govern- 
ment, 184;  immigrants 
into  Ireland,  215;  in  West 
Indies,  221;  expansion  of, 
230 

English,  Presbyterians  for 
the  King  against  the  army, 

Episcopacy  rejected  by  the 
Scotch,  36-39;  abolition  of, 
demanded  by  Long  Parlia- 
ment, 54;  under  Crom- 
well's government,  211 
Episcopalian  Royalists,  171 
Episcopalians,      75;     clergy 

16 


hated  by  Presbjrterians, 
88;  their  intolerance,  100; 
Parliament  deserted  by 
them,  104;  with  the  Roy- 
alists in  Ireland,  117,  127, 
141;  under  the  Protector- 
ate, 191;  the  Prayer-Book 
denied  them  by  the  Com- 
monwealth, 210 

Erse,  216 

Essex,  Earl  of,  leader  of  Par- 
liamentary forces,  55;  his 
Guards,  61;  at  Northamp- 
ton, 66;  his  blunders,  87; 
compared  with  McClellan, 
88 

Essex,  Fairfax  in,  116 

Europe,  armed  against 
French  Revolutionists, 
115;  effect  of  regicide  on, 
133;  Dutch  position  in, 
175,  177;  religious  toler- 
ance, 193;  liberty,  212; 
struggles  of  Spain  and 
France,  219;  Turlcsin,  220; 
profligacy  in  seventeenth 
century,  221 

Evolution,  of  English  polit- 
ical freedom,  190 

Executive,  English  and  Amer- 
ican, compared,  191 

Expansion,  English,  228-229 

Extremists,  in  English  Par- 
liament, 199 

Fairfax,  Sir  Thomas,  his 
friendship  with  Cromwell, 
76;  at  Winceby,  79;  at 
York,  82;  Marston  Moor, 
85,  86;  in  command  of 
Parliamentarians,  90;  at 
Naseby,  92,  93;  captures 
Bristol,  94;  returned  to 
Parliament,  112;  approves 
Cromwell's  joining  army 
party,  114;  his  march  into 
Kent,  116;  takes  Colches- 


242 


Index 


ter,  124;  Cromwell's  letter 
to,  126;  counsels  modera- 
tion toward  the  King,  129; 
declines  campaign  against 
Covenanters,  157;  his  inde- 
cision, 158  ^/  seq. 

Falkland,  Lord,  54 

Fanaticism,  consequent  on 
English  Revolution,  138 

Fifth  Monarchy,  98;  princi- 
ples of,  108 

Flag,  English,  Dutch  salute 
insisted  on,  177 

Flanders,  English  victories 
in,  222 

Fleet,  English,  supports  Par- 
liamentarians, 117;  deserts 
to  Royalists,  124;  its  share 
in  Dutch  wars,  177;  sup- 
ports Cromwell,  182 ;  under 
the  Protectorate,  192 

Foot,  in  seventeenth  century 
warfare,  57;  Parliamenta- 
rians', at  Gainsborough  ,79; 
Scots',  at  Marston  Moor, 
84.     See  also  Infantry 

Forrest,  General,  his  inferior- 
ity to  Grant,  65 ;  compared 
with  Montrose,  91 

Fortescue,  Sir  Faithful,  de- 
serts Parliamentarians  at 
Edgehill,  68; 

Four  Fundamentals,  the,  197 

France,  serfs  of,  56;  Prince 
Rupert  in,  125;  Royalist 
refugees  in,  143;  Protest- 
ants, 156;  in  wars  with 
Spain ,  219;  convention 
with  England,  221 

Franchise,  the,  redistribu- 
tion of,  under  the  Protec- 
torate, 190 

Frederick  the  Great,  140 

Free  State,  the,  136.  See 
also  Commonwealth 

French,  character  of  the,  in 
eighteenth  centtuy,  96, 184 


French  Revolution,  the,  115 
Frobisher,  14 

Gainsborough,  siege  of,  78 

Galley  slaves,  English  pris- 
oners as,  124 

Garrison,  American  Aboli- 
tionist, 98 

Geddes,  Jenny,  at  Edin- 
burgh, 37 

Geneva,  12 

Gentiles,  212 

Gentlemen,  CromweU's  opin- 
ion of,  73 

Gentry,  English,  56;  against 
Charles  I.,  58;  support  of 
the  King  in  Wales,  116 

George  III.,  his  Government 
rejected  by  American  Con- 
tinental Congress,  35 

George  IV.,  229 

Germany,  English  adventur- 
ers in,  56 ;  serfs  of,  56 

Germans,  the,  Charles  X.'s 
aggressions  against,  218 

Gladstone,  early  writings  of, 

47 

Golden  Rule,  the,  45 

Good  government,  Crom- 
well's notion   of,    197 

Gordon,  piety  of,  compared 
with  Cromwell's,  10 1 

Goring,  General,  at  Marston 
Moor,  84,  86;  defeated  by 
Fairfax,  94 

Government,  its  develop- 
ment in  Great  Britain,  191 ; 
Cromwell's  practice  of,  203 

Grand  Remonstrance,  the, 
against  Charles  I.,  54,  55 

Grant,  General,  his  volunteer 
soldiery,  62;  his  develop- 
ment of  troops,  88;  his 
superiority  to  Forrest,  91; 
his  political  supporters,  99; 
his  soldiers,  140;  his  gener- 
osity, 209 


Index 


H$ 


Grantham,  Cromwell  at,  76 

Great  Britain,  Charles  II. 
declared  King  of,  by  the 
Scotch,  138;  government 
of,  191 ;  expansion  of,  230 

Greeks,  the,  tmder  Agatho- 
kles,  203 

Greene,  General,  87 

Guards,  of  Lord  Essex,  buff 
coats  adopted  by  them  as 
uniform, 61 ;  of  Charles  I.,  61 

Gunpowder,  its  use  in  Crom- 
wellian  times,  56 

Gunpowder  Plot,  the,  42 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  his 
campaign  against  Spain ,  1 4 ; 
his  career,  38,  161 

Hamilton,  Duke  of,  115;  his 
campaigns  in  Second  Civil 
War,  117-119;  at  Preston, 
122;  beneaaing  of,  123; 
Kirk  attitude  toward  him, 
160 

Hampden,  John,  Carlyle's 
opmion  of,  3;  originality 
of  type  of,  5 ;  his  tolerance, 
5;  refuses  to  pay  Ship 
Money,  34,  44 ;  his  relations 
with  Cromwell,  44;  his 
Puritanism  defined,  48 ; 
compared  with  Cromwell, 
51;  his  imprisonment,  55; 
a  cousin  of  Cromwell,  55; 
tmiform  of  his  regiment, 
61;  at  Edgehill,  6p;  Crom- 
well's opinion  of  his  troops, 
70;  his  death,  77;  in  Par- 
liament, 171 

Hapsburg,  House  of,  in  Spain 
and  Austria,  17 

Harrison,  English  Republi- 
can general,  130;  his  devo- 
tion to  Cromwell,  180;  calls 
musketeers  into  Parlia- 
ment, 180;  his  fanaticism, 
193 


Hawkins,  Admiral,  in  Span- 
ish wars,  13,  17 

Hein,  Piet,  Dutcn  admiral  in 
Spanish  wars,  17 

Helmets,  carried  by  Crom- 
wellian  cavalry,  57 

Henrietta  Maria,  wife  of 
Charles  I.,  24 

Henry,  Patrick,  compared 
with  Pym,  35 

Henry  VII I. ,  King  of  Eng- 
land, his  bearing  toward 
the  Reformation,  7;  his 
dealings  with  lower  classes, 
8;  with  the  Anglican 
Church,  9;  his  career  im- 

f)Ossible  under  a  Long  Par- 
iament,  11;  his  oppres- 
sions, 22 

High  Court  of  Justice, 
Charles  I.  tried  by,  131 

Highlanders,  the  Scotch,  in 
the  Civil  Wars,  91;  their 
chiefs  at  Stirling,  168;  at 
Worcester,  169 

Highlands,  the,  General 
Monk  in,  194 

Hofer's  Tyrolese,  64 

Holland,  her  stand  against 
Spain,  14;  her  colonial 
empire,  17;  House  of 
Orange  in,  130;  effect  of 
regicide  on,  133;  alliance 
with,  desired  by  Cromwell, 
178 

Horse  (cavalry),  of  the  Par- 
liamentarians, 55 ;  at  Edge- 
hill,  68;  Winceby,  80;  of 
the  Parliamentarians  at 
Marston  Moor,  83-85; 
maneuvres  with,  at  Mars- 
ton  Moor,  85;  use  of,  at 
Naseby,  92;  in  retreat  at 
Preston,  122,  123;  service 
at  Dunbar,  164  et  seq. 

Horse-racing,  suppressed  un- 
der the  Protectorate,  206 


244 


Index 


Howard,  English  admiral,  13 

Huguenots,  Charles  I.'s 
feeble  move  against  them, 
25;  persecuted  in  France, 
219 

Hume,  his  opinion  of  Crom- 
well's speeches,  196 

Huntingdon,  birthplace  of 
Cromwell,  40-43 

Immigration  of  the  English 
and   Scotch  into   Ireland, 

215 

Inchiquin,  Lord,  Parliamen- 
tarian leader  in  Ireland, 
142,  144;  captures  Drog- 
heda,  145 

Independent  Movement,  the 
so-called,  under  Elizabeth, 
22 

Independents,  English  polit- 
ical party,  47;  Cromwell  at 
head  of ,  47 ;  bearing  toward 
the  Presbyterians,  77;  real 
source  of  their  power  the 
Ironsides,  77 ;  hated  by  the 
Presbyterians,  88;  their 
strength  in  the  army,  90; 
their  spirit  commended  by 
Cromwell,  102;  their  pro- 
posed reconciliation  with 
Parliamentarians,  no; 
Charles  I.'s  designs  on 
them,  1 1 1 ;  they  take  refuge 
in  the  army,  114;  conquer- 
ors of  the  Royalists,  115; 
their  prompt  action  in  Sec- 
ond Civil  War,  116;  their 
political  isolation,  127; 
rujDture  with  Irish  Presby- 
terians, 145;  their  strength 
in  the  Commonwealth,  158; 
in  Parliament,  lyi  et  seq.; 
support  of  Cromwell  in 
the  Rump  Parliament,  182; 
under  the  Protectorate, 
192, 212 


Indian  Mutiny,  compared 
with  state  of  Ireland  under 
Cromwell,  146 

Infantry,  Parliamentarians', 
at  Nottingham,  55;  use  of, 
in  Cromwell's  time,  57,  58; 
in  action  at  Marston  Moor, 
83;  at  Naseby,  92;  its  im- 
portance at  Preston,  122; 
at  Dunbar,  164;  Spanish, 
defeated  by  British  in  the 
Netherlands,  221 

Inquisition,  the,  in  Spain,  14; 
the  handmaid  of  tyranny, 
16;  religious  aspect  of,  46 

Instrument  of  Government, 
the,  189  et  seq.;  recognized 
by  Parliament,  197 

Insurgents,  the  Irish,  1/^1  et 
seq. 

Ireland,  England's  treatment 
of,  15,  16;  priesthood  loyal 
to  its  peasantry,  1 6 ;  Prot- 
estantism in,  16;  its  pros- 
perity Under  Strafford,  34; 
revolts  against  Charles  I.'s 
government,  54;  English 
troops  in,  80 ;  unites  against 
the  Parliament,  115;  com- 
plex political  conditions, 
117;  its  loyalty,  138;  in- 
vaded by  Cromwell,  139 
et  seq.;  Cromwellian  atroci- 
ties, 151;  subjugation  by 
Parliamentarians,  172;  dis- 
content under  the  Protec- 
torate, 213;  under  Rich- 
ard Cromwell's  rule,  224 
its  misery  under  English 
reigns,  229 

Ireton,  Henry,  character  of, 
6 ;  captain  of  troop  in  Sixty- 
seventh  Regiment,  55;  at 
Naseby,  92,  93;  marriage 
with  Bridget  Cromwell ,  1 00 ; 
his  leadership  of  the  army, 
112;  approves  Cromwell's 


Index 


245 


joining  the  army  party, 
114;  remonstrates  against 
the  King,  129;  counsels 
mercy  toward  Charles  I., 
131;  desecration  of  his 
remains,  225 

Irish,  the,  Charles  I.'s  over- 
tiires  to,  80;  Puritan  cru- 
elty toward,  124;  Catholics' 
treaty  with  Charles  II., 
143;  troops  at  Dundalk, 
151;  English  treatment  of, 
156,  219,  229 

Ironsides,  the,  real  power  of 
the  Independents,  77;  in 
action  at  Marston  Moor, 
83,  85;  membership  in 
Eastern  Association,  90; 
type  of,  91;  their  army 
spirit,  102;  support  the 
army  party,  116;  at  Pres- 
ton, 121;  as  volunteers, 
139;    veterans  in  Ireland, 

147 
"Irreconcilables,"  191 
Issues,  political,  not  always 

sharply  drawn,"  174 
Ivan  the  Terrible,  203 

Jackson,  Andrew,  his  back- 
woodsmen, 64 

Jackson,  "Stonewall,"  re- 
semblance to  Cromwell 
and  Ireton,  6;  his  piety, 
loi ;  his  strategy  compared 
with  Crom weirs,  165; 

Jamaica,  taken  by  the  Eng- 
lish, 221 

James  I.,  his  ignoble  peace, 
18,  19;  his  belief  in  despot- 
ism, 21;  his  weak  policy 
toward  Parliament,  22;  ab- 
solutism in  Church  and 
State,  24;  his  policy  in 
Ireland,  140,  141 

Jehovah,  invoked  in  massa- 
cres, 154 


Jews,  massacres  of,  com- 
pared with  Puritans',  155; 
their  settlement  in  London, 
212 

Johnston,  American  general, 
development  of  his  troops 
compared  with  Cromwell  s, 
88 

Jones,  Colonel,  Puritan  lead- 
er, defeats  Preston  near 
Dublin,  144;  makes  terms 
with  Irish  Papal  party, 
144;  routs  Ormond  at  Dub- 
lin, 145 

Joyce,  Comet,  112 

Judges,  under  the  Protec- 
torate, 192 

Kent,  Fairfax  in,  116 

Kentucky,  neutrality  of,  in 
American  Civil  War,  60 

Kerne,  the,  in  Ireland,  16; 
Queen  Mary's  expulsion 
of  the,  16 

Kilkenny,  Cromwell's  mani- 
festo there,  153 

King  Jesus,  cry  of ,  108,  138 

Kings,  their  divine  right,  20; 
English  belief  in,  95,  96; 
office  of,  abolished  by  the 
Commonwealth,  136;  arbi- 
trary power  of,  155 

Kingship,  offered  to  Crom- 
well,  207 

Kirk  party,  in  Scotland,  125; 
Cromwell's  dispute  with, 
166,  167 

Kirk,  the,  in  Scotland,  160, 
161 ;  its  leaders  urge  Leslie 
on  at  Edinburgh,  163,  166; 
its  forces  broken,  168 

Knox,  John,  his  influence  on 
Scotch  Calvinism,  18 

Laissez-faire  economists,  176 

Lambert,     Puritan    general, 

sent    to    the    North,    116; 


246 


Index 


in  action  at  Preston,  119- 
123 

Lancashire,  Presbyterian  ris- 
ing there,  116 

Lancers,  57;  the  Scots',  at 
Marston  Moor,  84 ;  at  Dun- 
bar, 164 

Landed  proprietors,  interests 
of,  threatened  under  the 
Protectorate,  186;  EngHsh, 
in  Ireland,  215,  216 

Langdale,  Sir  Marmaduke, 
Cromwell's  foe  at  Naseby, 
116;  his  command  at  Pres- 
ton, 119,  121 

Laud,  his  hostility  to  Protest- 
ants, 28,  29;  his  ecclesias- 
tical absolutism,  32;  be- 
comes archbishop,  32;  his 
'*  thorough"  policy,  34; 
attempts  to  introduce  cere- 
monials at  Edinburgh,  37; 
supports  Charles  I.  against 
Short  Parliament,  39;  im- 
prisoned by  the  Parlia- 
mentarians, 50;  his  execu- 
tion, 'j']\  his  intolerance 
compared  with  Presbyte- 
rians', 104 

Laws,  English,  considered 
by  Parliamentarians,  174 

Lawyers,  Cromwell's  dislike 
of,  175,  186 

Lee,  American  Confederate 
general,  his  volunteer  sol- 
diery, 62;  development  of 
his  troops,  ^?> ;  his  general- 
ship compared  with  Crom- 
well's, 91 

Legislative  power  under  the 
Protectorate,  190 

Lenthall,  Speaker  of  House 
of  Commons,  174 

Leslie,  David,  Scottish  leader, 
his  service  under  Gusta- 
vus  Adolphus.  161;  his 
defence  of  Edinburgh,  162 


ei  seq.*  operations  at  Dun- 
bar, 163-166 

Levellers,  the,  English  Par- 
liamentary party,  dis- 
trusted by  Cromwell,  107; 
their  agitation,  114;  their 
threatening  attitude  to- 
ward Cromwell,  137,  138; 
against  the  Commonwealth 
158;  suppressed  under  the 
Protectorate,  206 

Leven,  Earl  of,  Scottish 
leader,  besieges  York,  82; 
at  Marston  Moor,  83 

Liberty,  political  and  reli- 
gious, under  the  Stuarts, 
23;  Cromwell's  views  on, 
103;  under  the  Protector- 
ate, 190 

Lieutenant-general,  Crom- 
well's rank  of,  138 

Life  Guards,  Charles  I.'s,  61 

Lincoln,  American  President, 
his  candidacy  in  1864,  99; 
his  first  election,  187;  com- 
pared with  Cromwell,  200, 
201 

London,  its  sympathy  with 
the  Commons,  55;  unifica- 
tion of  the  Parliamentary 
troops  there,  61 ;  its  troops 
at  Copredy  Bridge,  87; 
Presbyterians  of,  104;  its 
mobs  in  the  army  party, 
114;  Presbyterian  com- 
motions there,  116;  the 
army's  march  into,  130; 
Cromwell's  return  to,  157, 
174;  Jewish  settlement  m, 
213 

Long  Parliament,  spirit  of 
the,  5;  men  of,  11;  its 
grievances  compared  with 
American  Continental  Con- 
gress's, 35;  meets  at  West- 
minster, 41;  Cromwell's 
issue    with     army    party 


Index 


247 


against  it ,  1 14 ;  the  remnant 
of,  1 7 1 ;  its  dissolution,  1 80, 
181,  194,  197,  198;  com- 
parison with  the  Protec- 
torate, 208.  See  also  Par- 
liament, Rump,  etc. 

Lord  Protector,  position  of, 
190;  Cromwell  as,  205 

Lords,  House  of,  in  Charles 
I.'s  trial  for  treason,  131; 
abolished  tmder  the  Com- 
monwealth,  136 

Louis  XIV.,   156 

Louis  XV.,   156 

Lower  classes  .in  England, 
their  discontent  under  the 
Tudors,  10;  incapacity  for 
political  combination,  10 

Lucas,  Sir  Charles,  repulsed 
by  Scotch  at  Marston 
Moor,  84,  86 

Luther,  his  zeal  for  righteous- 
ness, 7 

Lutherans,  intolerant  spirit 
of,  12 

Lynch  law,  occasional  need 
of,  52 


Macaulay,  Lord,  his  opinion 

of  Cromwell,  i 

McClellan,  American  general, 
compared  with  Essex,  S^\ 
attitude  of  Abolitionists 
toward,  99;  Democratic 
support  of,  200 

Major-generals,  government 
of,  under  the  Protectorate, 
205,  207 

Manchester,  Earl  of.  Parlia- 
mentary leader,  56;  com- 
mands Eastern  Associa- 
tion, 81 ;  at  Marston  Moor, 
83;  denounced  by  Crom- 
well in  Parliament,  89; 
Cromwell's  speech  to,  105 

Marlborough,  Duke  of,  140 


Marriage,  civil,  proposed  un- 
der the  Protectorate,  186 

Marston  Moor,  Battle  of,  ^t,- 
87,  90,  91,  92;  Scotch 
share  in,  119;  David  Les- 
lie at,  161 

Maiy,  Queen,  her  expulsion 
of  the  Irish  kerne,  16;  her 
treatment  of  Protestants, 
210;    Irish  policy,  229 

Maryland,  161 

Mass,  the,  denied  to  Irish  by 
Cromwell,  152;  prohibited 
under  the  Protectorate,! 91 

Matirice  of  Orange,  14 

Mazarin,  French  Cardinal, 
i6;  Cromwell's  reply  to, 
212;  co-operates  with 
Cromwell,  220 

Middle  classes  in  England, 
powerful  under  the  Tu- 
dors, 10;  strength  among 
Parliamentarians,  66 

Midianitish  woman,  the,  154 

Militarism,  English,  avoid- 
ance of,  under  James  I.,  19 

Military  rule,  Cromwell's, 
205,  206 

Military  service,  not  differ- 
entiated on  land  and  sea 
in  seventeenth  century, 
177 

Military  type,  the,  in  Crom- 
wellian  army,  103;  influ- 
enced by  religious  zeal,  184 

Militia,  compared  with  regu- 
lar soldiery,  63;  at  Cop- 
redy  Bridge,  87;  levy  sys- 
tem of,  90 

Mill  Mount,  149 

Milton,  his  contempt  of  polit- 
ical dreamers,  20;  his  Puri- 
tanism, 48;  his  political 
ideas,  107;  approves  Crom- 
well's joining  with  army 
party,  114;  his  views  on 
the  regicide,  133;  supports 


248 


Index 


the  Protectorate,  202;  son- 
net on  the  Vaudois,  220; 
his  greatness,  224,  note 

Ministers,  their  position  un- 
der the  Protectorate,  193 

Moderate  party,  the,  in  the 
Long  ParHament,  53 

Monarchy,  Cromwell's  dread 
of,  189,  204 

Monasteries,  Cromwell's  an- 
cestors benefited  by  their 
spoliation,  42 

Monk,  General  George,  80; 
at  Dundalk,  145;  as  naval 
commander,  177,  194;  his 
rule  in  Scotland,  213;  sup- 
ports Charles  II.,  224 

Monopolies,  under  Elizabeth, 
10 

Montrose,  Earl  of,  not  a  pro- 
fessional soldier,  66;  his 
victories  in  Scotland,  90, 
91;  defeated  at  Philip- 
haugh,  94;  aided  by  Irish 
troops,  142;  his  death, 
160 

Moors,  defeated  by  Blake  at 
Tunis,  220 

Morgan,  American  Confed- 
erate commander,  his  cav- 
alry, 67 

Mountain,  the,  see  French 
Revolution,  115 

Munro,  commands  Hamil- 
tonian  cavalry,  117;  at 
Ulster,  118;  moves  toward 
Preston,  119;  retreats 
across  the  border,  125; 
bearing  toward  Charles 
II.,   142,  145 

Munster,  Royalist  Protest- 
ants in,  144 

Muscovites,  203 

Musketeers,  clumsiness  of 
their  weapons,  57;  tactical 
uses  of,  57;  at  Win  wick 
Church,  123;  their  appear    ' 


ance  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, 181 

Nantes,  Edict  of,  38 

Napoleon,  95;  his  unscrupu- 
lousness,  99,  184 

Naseby,  Battle  of,  91;  Sir 
Marmaduke  Langdale  at, 
116 

Navigation  Acts,  176 

Navy,  the  English ,  its  growth, 
176,  178;  in  Dutch  wars, 
194.     See  also  Fleet 

Netherlands,  the,  British  ad- 
venturers in,  56;  oppres- 
sions there  compared  with 
the  Irish,  141,  150;  Eng- 
lish and  Spanish  in,  221 

Neutrality,  in  English  Civil 
Wars,  60;  in  Kentucky,  60 

Newburn,  Battle  of,  40 

Newbury,  Battle  of,  89 

Newcastle,  Cromwell's  letter 
to  the  Commandant  there, 
167 

Newcastle,  Lord,  besieges 
Gainsborough,  78,  79;  his 
defence  of  York,  82;  at 
Marston  Moor,  83,  85 

New  England,  173 

New  Model,  the,  in  Crom- 
wellian  army,  61,  90,  91; 
strained  relations  with 
Independents,  102;  at- 
tempted disbandment  of, 
112;  results  in  Indepen- 
dents' army,  115;  its  vet- 
erans in  Ireland,  147 

New  World,  the,  America's 
position  in,  173 

New  York,  regicide  senti- 
mentalism  in,  133 

North  America,  186,  230 

North  of  England,  the.  Roy- 
alist rising  in,  116 

Northampton,  Essex  assem- 
bles troops  there,  66 


Index 


249 


Northumbrian    Regiment, 

Newcastle's,  85 
Nottingham  Castle,  scene  of 

beginning   of   Civil    Wars, 

55;     Royalists   there,    66; 

held  by  Cromwell,  77 

Offence,  the  best  defence  of 
nations,  159 

Old-English  Catholics,  in  Ire- 
land, 141 

••Old  Noll,"  213 

Old  Testament,  the,  Puritan- 
ism in,  154 

O'Neil,  Irish  Catholic  leader, 
143,  144;  joins  Ormond, 
145 ;  his  troops  in  Ireland, 

153 
Orange,  House  of,  130 
Ormond,  Earl  of,  leader  of 
loyal  Irish,  141,  143;  sur- 
renders Dublin,  143;  heads 
moderate  Irish  Catholics, 
144;  his  supporters  in  Ire- 
land, 145;  nis  troops  at 
Drogheda,  148;  in  Ireland, 

153 
"Ossawatomie  Brown,"  140 

Pale,  the,  in  Ireland,  141 
Papacy,  the,  Henry  VIII. 's 
attitude  toward,  7;  "pa- 
pacy or  prelacy,"  191 
Papal  nuncio,  in  Ireland,  143 
Parliament,  Pym's  view  of 
government  by,  5;  grow- 
mg  powers  under  Elizabeth 
and  James,  21 ;  Charles  I.'s 
third,  26 ;  its  struggles  with 
the  King,  28;  Covenant 
taken  by,  75;  Cromwell's 
speech  against  the  generals 
as  members  in,  89;  Crom- 
well's attitude  toward,  97; 
factions  after  First  Civil 
War,  102,  104  etseq.;  army 
majority  in,  112;  negotia- 


tions with  King  and  army, 
112;  Irishcoalition  against, 
115;  makes  Blake  admiral, 
125;  Cromwell '  s  dealings 
with,  after  Second  Civil 
War,  126;  plans  of  union 
with  King  against  army, 
129;  Irish  support  of,  138; 
aided  by  Coote  in  Ireland, 
145;  summons  Cromwell 
from  Ireland,  156;  heir- 
ship to  royal  powers,  172; 
conflict  with  army  after 
Scotch  wars,  172  et  seq.; 
law  reform,  174;  Dutch 
Wars,  174;  non-reelection 
bill,  170,  181;  its  rule  dis- 
tasteful to  Cromwell,  188; 
under  the  Protectorate, 
191;  representation  under 
the  Protectorate,  104  et 
seq.;  dissolution  of  the 
Riunp,  201 ;  Second,  under 
the  Protectorate,  207 ; 
summoned  by  Richard 
Cromwell,  224;  Cromwell's 
speech  to  Second  Protec- 
torate Parliament,  227. 
See  also  Barebones;  Com- 
mons; Rump;  Long  Par- 
liament, etc. 
Parliamentarians,  military 
forces  of,  55;  strength  of, 
58;  in  Cornwall  and  York- 
shire, 60;  military  leaders, 
66;  resources,  66;  weak- 
ness of  their  cavalry,  70; 
operations  at  Gainsbor- 
ough, 78;  aided  by  the 
Scotch,  80;  at  York,  82; 
at  Marston  Moor,  84;  at 
Copredy  Bridge,  87 ;  leader, 
removed  by  Cromwell, 
89;  reorganization  of 
army,  90;  reverses  after 
Marston  Moor,  91;  out- 
number Royalists  at  Nase- 


250 


Index 


by,  93  et  seq.;  dissensions 
of,  after  First  Civil  War, 
95  et  seq.;  opposition  to 
Moderate  Irish  party,  146 

Peace,  slothfulness  of,  under 
James  I.,  18,  19;  desire  for, 
by  mercantile  communi- 
ties, 175,  176 

Peasantry,  in  England,  59 

Pembroke  (Ireland),  capture 
of,  by  Royalists,  116 

Penal  laws,  English  enforce- 
ment of,  in  Ireland,  156 

Penances,  observed  by  Roy- 
alists on  anniversaries  of 
Charles  I.'s  death,  231 

Penn,  at  San  Domingo,  221 

Peter  the  Great,  228 

Peters,  Hugh,  chaplain  to 
Cromwell,  68 

Petition  of  Right,  becomes 
law,  27;  disregarded  by 
the  King,  30;  supported 
by  Cromwell,  43 

Philadelphia,  church  to  Roy- 
al Martyr  there,  133 

Philip  of  Spain,  bigotry  of, 
16;  merciless  to  persons  of 
his  own  faith  in  other  na- 
tionalities, 150 

Philiphaugh,  Battle  of,  94 

Philippines,  the,  American 
volunteers  in,  64 

Phillips,  Wendell,  American 
Abolitionist,  99 

Phineas,  154 

Pikemen,  their  function  in 
seventeenth-century  war, 
57;  tactical  position  of, 
57;  at  Winwick  Church, 
123 

Pistols,  use  of,  by  seven- 
teenth-century cavalry,  57 

Plantations,  English,  in  Ire- 
land, 15,  140 

Platform,  American  Repub- 
licans'in  i860, 187 


Plundering,  suppressed  by 
Cromwell,  72;  punish- 
ments for,  at  Winchester, 
94:  Cromwell's  suppres- 
sion of,  in  Scotland,  126, 
147 

Policy,  necessity  of  adjusting 
a  nation's  foreign  and  do- 
mestic, 19;  Cromwell  actu- 
ated by,  89 

Pope,  the,  Cromwell's  view 
of,  167 

Portuguese,  the,  16 

Prayer-Book,  the.  Laud's  at- 
tempted introduction  of, 
at  Edinburgh,  37;  pro- 
hibited under  the  Pro- 
tectorate, 191;  denied  to 
Episcopalians  under  the 
Commonwealth,    210 

Preachers,  arrest  of,  under 
the  Protectorate,  193 

Presbyterian  Church,  in  Scot- 
land, 18 

Presbyterian,  English,  natu- 
ral allies  of  Scotch,  53 

Presbyterian  ministers,  in 
Scotland,  125 

Presbyterian  Royalists, 
against  the  army,  115;  in 
Parliament,  171 

Presbyterianism,  its  growth 
in  the  Anglican  Church 
under  James  I.,  22;  sym- 
pathy with  Scottish  revolt, 
38;   orthodoxy  of,  77 

Presbyterians,  in  Parliamen- 
tarian army,  73;  in  Civil 
Wars,  88;  generals  in 
House  of  Commons,  89,  90; 
intolerance  of,  100;  faith 
of,  102;  ascendancy  of,  in 
Parliament,  104;  their  in- 
tolerance compared  with 
Laud's,  104;  feared  by 
Puritans,  107;  efforts  at 
reconciliation  with  Parlia- 


Index 


251 


mentarians,  1 1 1 ;  take 
issue  with  the  King  against 
the  army,  m,  115;  com- 
motion of,  in  London,  116; 
at  Ulster,  117;  cruel  treat- 
ment of,  as  Puritan  prison- 
ers, 124;  in  Parliament 
after  Second  Civil  War,  126 
et  seq.;  in  touch  with  Ul- 
ster Irish,  141;  rupture 
with  Independents,  145; 
stand  agamst  Cromwell, 
158;  position  under  the 
Protectorate,  193,  212 

'•Presbyter  but  Priest  writ 
large,"  107 

Presidency,  the  American, 
Lincoln's  candidacy  for,  99 

Preston,  Battle  of,  119  et  seq.; 
Second  Civil  War  ended 
by, 124 

Preston,  Irish  leader,  143 

Pride,  Colonel,  Parliamen- 
tary leader,  76;  at  Pres- 
ton, 121;  at  Winwick 
Church,  123;  in  the  Com- 
mons, 130 

Pride's  Purge,  130 

Priests,  loyalty  of,  to  peas- 
ants in  Ireland,  16;  Mil- 
ton's view  of,  107;  slaugh- 
ter of,  at  Drogheda,  149; 
persecuted  in  Ireland,  215 

Prisoners,  cruel  treatment  of, 
by  Puritans,  124,  149,  168 

Property,  threatened  under 
the  Protectorate,  197 

Protective  tariffs,  176 

Protector,  the,  office  of,  195 
et  seq. 

Protectorate,  the,  190  et  seq.; 
rule  of,  in  Ireland,  213  217 

Protectorate  Parliament,  dis- 
missed by  Cromwell,  203, 
205,  206 

Protestantism,  height  of,  in 
England,      9;      European 


sects,  1 1 ;  modem  indi- 
vidual results  of,  12;  the 
creed  of  liberty,  16 

Protestants  in  Ireland,  Par- 
liament recognized  by, 
142;  Royalist,  in  Ireland, 
144,  146;  war  of  Protest- 
ant powers,  178;  position 
of,  under  Queen  Mary,  210; 
in  Ireland  under  the  Pro- 
tectorate, 217;  among  the 
Swiss,  220;  influence  of ,  in 
Ireland,  229,  230 

Psalm-singing,  by  Puritans, 
at  Winceby,  79;  at  Mars- 
ton  Moor,  84;  Basing 
House,  94;   Dunbar,  165 

Public  opinion,  Cromwell  in- 
fluenced by,  203 

Puritanism,  Carlyle's  opinion 
of,  3;  beginning  of  the 
modem  epoch,  4;  growth 
under  James  I.,  22;  not 
widespread  under  Charles 
I.,  28;  character  of,  in 
Scotland,  36;  characteris- 
tics of,  154  et  seq.;  apolo- 
gists for,  211  et  seq. 

Puritans,  sympathy  of,  with 
Scottish  revolt,  38;  their 
suspicions  of  the  Episco- 
)acy,  54;  psalm-singmg  at 
'^inceby,  79;  forces  of, 
in  army,  82;  at  Marston 
Moor,  84;  phraseology  of, 
in  Cromwell's  time,  102; 
Presbyterians  feared  by, 
107;  hatred  of  Charles  I., 
no;  desire  for  vengeance 
on  the  King,  116;  opposed 
by  the  Irish,  117;  at  Win- 
wick Church,  123;  cruel 
treatment  of  prisoners,  124; 
justice  of  their  punishment 
of  the  King,  132;  disavow 
Irish  alliance,  145;  cruel- 
ties at   Drogheda,    149   et 


pa( 
Wi 


252 


Index 


seq.;  toleration,  i6o;  op- 
posed to  Covenanters  at 
Dunbar,  164;  in  New  Eng- 
land, 173;  passion  for  re- 
ligious regulation,  206; 
lack  of  generosity  to  foes, 
209;  rule  of,  in  Ireland, 
216;  great  names  among, 
224;  attitude  toward  Ire- 
land, 230;  true  greatness 
of,  231 
Pym,  Carlyle's  opinion  of,  3 ; 
original  type  of,  5;  toler- 
ance of,  5;  leadership  in 
Parliament,  29;  first  mod- 
ern "leader,"  30;  speech 
on  imprisonment  of  Straf- 
ford, 49,  50;  imprisonment 
of,  55;  death,  77;  his  Par- 
liament, 171 

Quakers,  138 

Reed,  Speaker,  quoted,  227 

Reform,  attempted  by  Par- 
liament, 175;  by  Rump 
Parliament,  178;  in  the 
Assembly,  186;  practica- 
bility necessary  in,  187 

Reformation,  the,  in  Eng- 
land, 7;  European  results 
of,  8;  in  Scotland,  8 

Reformed  Church,  influence 
of,  in  European  politics,  7 

Reformers,  contradictions  of, 
13;  fanaticism  of,  under 
the  Protectorate,  192 

Regicides,  the,  134 

Regulars  (soldiery) ,  advan- 
tages of,  62,  66;  discipline 
of,  87;  Ironsides  as  regu- 
lars, 139;  ordinary  type  of, 

139 
Religious  liberty,  under  the 
Protectorate,   191;    Crom- 
well's view  of,  212;  incom- 
pleteness of,  in  Ireland,2i5 


Republican  Convention  (U. 
S.),  i860,  186 

Republicanism  in  Parliamen- 
tary army,  104;  Crom- 
well's, 126 

Republicans  in  England,  not 
extremists,  108;  after  the 
Revolution,  137;  under 
the  Protectorate,  195;  in 
the  Commons,  197;  in 
Second  Protectorate  Par- 
liament, 208 

Republicans  (U.  S.),  after 
Civil  War,  99 

Republics,  in  South  America, 
187 

Restoration,  the,  207,  224; 
disgraceful  effects  of,  225 

Revolution  of  1688,  6,  96; 
compared  with  Civil  Wars, 
226,  227 

Revolution,  Puritan,  Crom- 
well's attempt  to  check  it, 
114;  Presbyterian  support 
of,  127;  Cromwell's  atti- 
tude toward  it,  137;  im- 
permanent effects  of,  173, 
182.  See  also  American 
Revolution  ;  French 
Revolution,  etc. 

Rhode  Island,  161 

Ribble,  river,  122 

Richelieu,  16 

Ritual,  Cromwell's  suppres- 
sion of ,  at  Ely,  75 

Rochelle,  Charles  I.'s  expe- 
dition against,  25,  26 

Roman  Catholicism  identi- 
fied with  Spain  in  English 
opinion,  14;  liberality  of, 
in  France,  16;  Cromwell's 
intolerance  of,  74;  de- 
manded for  State  religion 
by  Irish,  142 

Roman  Catholics,  intolerance 
of,  100;  Irish  revolt  sup- 
ported by,    141;    position 


Index 


253 


of,  under  the  Protectorate, 

Rome,  12 

Root  and  Branch  party,  the, 

54 

Ross,  capture  of,  by  Crom- 
well ,   152 

"Roundhead,"  term  of  re- 
proach in  Parliamentary 
army,  72 

Roundhead  array,  61;  its 
foot,  70;  at  Marston  Moor, 

85 

Royal  Martyr,  the,  churches 
dedicated  to,  133 

Royalist  Delinquents,  178 

Royalist  Protestants  in  Ire- 
land, 144,  146 

Royalists,  at  Nottingham, 
55,  56;  strength  of,  58; 
driven  out  of  Cornwall,  60; 
military  leaders  of,  66; 
natural  taste  for  war,  67; 
estates  fined  by  Cromwell, 
76;  at  Grantham,  76,  77; 
defeated  by  Cromwell  at 
Nottingham  and  Burleigh, 
77;  stand  at  Gainsbor- 
ough, 78;  defeated  at 
Winceby,  79;  forces  in 
Civil  Wars  unestimated, 
82;  at  Marston  Moor,  83 
et  sea.;  Copredy  Bridge, 
87;  nope  of,  in  Scotland, 
00;  outnumbered  at  Nase- 
by,  Q2  et  seq.;  end  of,  in 
Scotland,  94;  surrender  in 
1646,  94;  union  with  Cath- 
olics and  Presbyterians 
against  Parliament,  115; 
united  in  Ireland,  141;  in 
Irish  wars,  144  et  seq.;  op- 
posed to  the  Common- 
wealth, 158;  dissensions 
in  Scotland,  160;  Scottish 
reverses,  168;  their  end  in 
England,     172;      position 


under  the  Protectorate, 
192,  206,  209;  penances 
done  by,  on  anniversary  of 
regicide,  231 

Royalists  in  American  Revo- 
lution, 209 

Rump,  the,  171,  175;  disso- 
lution, 178, 181 

Rump  Parliament,  178,  181 

Rupert,  Prince,  Royalist 
leader,  military  tramin^, 
66;  at  Powick,  68;  his 
charge  at  Edgehill,  69;  at 
Grantham,  77 ;  dubs  Crom- 
well Old  Ironsides,  77; 
his  brilliant  tactics,  80; 
marches  to  relieve  York, 
82,  83;  against  Cromwell 
at  Marston  Moor,  83,  85; 
his  activity,  90,  91;  at 
Naseby,  92,  ^3;  his  buc- 
caneering cruise,  125 

Russia,  9;  majority  rule 
unnatural  to,  24;  Charles 
X.'s  policy  toward,  218; 
under  Peter  the  Great,  228 

Russians,  the,  under  Ivan  the 
Terrible,  203 

Sabbath,  observance  of,  im- 

der  the  Protectorate,  206 
Sailors,  fame  of  English,  in 

seventeenth    century,    13; 

the  Dutch  as,  175 
St.    Bartholomew,    Massacre 

of,  38 
St.  Pagan's,  Welsh  defeat  at, 

116 
St.  Ives,  Cromwell's  farm  at, 

43 

St.  John,  Oliver,  Cromwell's 
cousin  by  marriage,  44 

St.  Peter's,  Dro^heda,  149 

San  Domingo,  English  expe- 
dition against,  221 

Santa  Cruz,  Blake's  victory 
over  the  Spanish  there,  220 


254 


Index 


Savoy,  Duke  of,  his  |Dersecu- 
tion  of  the  Vaudois,  219, 
220 

Scotch,  defeat  Charles  I.'s 
forces  in  Bishops'  Wars, 
^9;  adventiirers  in  the 
Netherlands,  56;  relations 
with  Parliamentarians,  75; 
they  aid  the  Parliamen- 
tarians, 80;  besiege  York, 
82;  at  Marston  Moor, 
83;  their  military  qual- 
ities, 90;  Charles  I.'s  sur- 
render to,  94;  relations 
with  Charles  I.  in  Parlia- 
ment, 1 1 1 ;  declare  for 
King  against  army,  115; 
they  aid  the  Cavaliers,  116; 
in  Second  Civil  War,  117; 
Presbyterians  at  Ulster, 
117;  union  with  Royalists, 
119;  at  Preston,  120-123; 
Puritan  treatment  of,  124; 
support  Parliament  after 
Second  Civil  War,  126;  in 
touch  with  Ulster,  141; 
share  in  Irish  war,  142;  at 
Trim,  151;  declare  for 
Charles  II.,  156,  158;  losses 
at  Dunbar,  165;  assemble 
at  Stirling,  168;  immigrants 
into  Ireland,  215;  their 
share  in  British  expansion, 
229 

Scotch  Highlanders,  military 
type  of,  in  Civil  Wars,  91 

Scotch  Presbyterians,  sup- 
port Charles  II.,  145 

Scotland,  character  of,  17; 
Episcopacy  rejected  there, 
36,  39;  demands  indemnity 
after  Bishops'  Wars,  39, 
40;  its  claims  paid  by 
the  Long  Parliament,  52; 
makes  terms  with  Charles 
I.,  53;  brawls  in,  56; 
league  with   Parliamenta- 


rians, 77;  Royalist  hope 
of,  90;  end  of  Royalist 
party  there,  94;  complex 
political  conditions,  117, 
118;  Royalists  and  Cove- 
nanters, 159, 160;  subdued 
by  Parliamentarians,  172; 
definitive  union  with  Eng- 
land, 194;  rule  under  the 
Protectorate,  213 

Scout-master,  81 

Sea  power,  Spanish,  in  six- 
teenth century,  219 

Secession,  right  of,  in  Ameri- 
can States,  60 

Sectaries,  Parliamentarian 
intolerance  of,  in;  hatred 
of  the  Kirk  for,  163 

Self-denying  Ordinance,  the, 
89,  90 

Self-government,  qualities  of, 
227 

"  Serving  men  and  tapsters," 
70 

Severn,  river,  68 

Seymour,  American  Vice- 
President,  99 

Sheridan,  American  cavalry 
commander,  67;  compared 
with  Cromwell  in  pursuit, 

165 

Ship  Money,  33;  payment  of, 
refused  by  Hampden,  34, 
44;  declared  illegal  by 
Long  Parliament,  52 

Short  Parliament,  hostility 
of,  to  Charles  I.,  39.  See 
also  Parliament 

Sixty-seventh  Regiment, 
Cromwell's  captaincy  in,  55 

Skippon,  Parliamentarian 
major-general,  wounded 
at  Naseby,  93; 

Slavery,  prisoners  of  Puri- 
tans sold  into,  124,  147;  in 
the  United  States,  187 

Sligo,  captured,  143 


Index 


ass 


Smithfield,  38 

Soldiers,  citizen  and  regular 
types  compared,  62-66; 
veterans  at  Marston  Moor, 
83;  pay  neglected  by  Par- 
liament, 112;  Scotch,  at 
Preston,  123;  their  ready 
changes  of  allegiance,  123; 
religion  not  always  a  cause 
of  efficiency  among  them, 
160 

South  Africa,  volunteers  in, 
64 

South  American  republics, 
187 

Southerners,  in  the  United 
States,  98 

Spain,  feared  by  England  in 
sixteenth  century,  14;  su- 
premacy of,  14;  her  bar- 
barities compared  with 
those  of  Turkey,  15;  nat- 
ural foe  of  France,  1 7 ;  sea 
power  crushed  by  the 
Dutch  admirals,  1 7 ;  oppres- 
sions of  the  Dutch,  35,141; 
her  cruelties,  156;  her 
colonial  policy,  217;  Crom- 
well's interference  with, 
218;  war  with  France,  210; 
defeated  by  England  m 
the  Netherlands,  221 

Spaniards,  English  victories 
over  them  on  the  sea,  175; 
their  cruelty,  210 

Speaker  of  the  House,  Crom- 
well's letter  to,  loi 

Speeches,  character  of  Crom- 
well's, 19^, 197 

Star  Chamber,  the,  27;  its 
subserviency  to  the  King, 
31;  Cromwell's  hatred  of, 
51;  abolished  by  Long 
Parliament,  52 

States  rights,  doctrine  of,  in 
the  United  States,  60;  in 
English  coxmties,  60 


Steward.  See  Cromwell, 
Elizabeth  S. 

Stirling,  assembling  of  Scotch 
forces  there,  168 

Strafford,  Lord,  minister  of 
Charles  I.,  his  jealousy  of 
Buckingham,  26;  his  abet- 
ting of  the  King,  32 ;  raised 
to  the  Peerage,  33 ;  his  rule 
in  Ireland,  34;  returns 
from  Ireland,  39;  his  im- 
peachment and  defence, 
49;  death,  50;  the  King's 
treachery  to  him,  132 

Strategy,  lack  of,  in  1643,  76; 
Cromwell's  principles  of, 
162;  "Stonewall'  Jack- 
son's and  Cromwell's  com- 
pared, 165 

Stuart,  American  Confeder- 
ate cavalry  commander,  67 

Stuart,  House  of  the,  134;  its 
weakness  against  the  Com- 
monwealth, 139;  reestab- 
lishment  of,  224 

Stuarts,  the  English  Kings, 
7;  England  under  their 
rule,  8;  their  supposed 
spiritual  supremacy,  9; 
their  ignorance  of  their 
people,  1 1 ;  weakness  of 
their  domestic  and  forei^ 
policy,  19;  their  belief  in 
the  divine  right  of  kings, 
20;  reactionary  type  of,  23 ; 
their  power  curtailed  by 
Petition  of  Right,  27; 
Charles  I.  the  type  of,  129; 
their  bearing  in  exile,  192; 
comparisons  with  Crom- 
well, 204;  their  Restora- 
tion, 207;  taxation  during 
their  reigns,  209,  217 

Suffrage,  manhood,  advo- 
cated by  the  Levellers,  107 ; 
under  the  Protectorate, 
194 


256 


Index 


Sunday,  observance  of,  206, 

207 
Supreme  Council  of  Dublin, 

the,  145 
Sweden,    champion    of    the 

Reformation,  25 
Swiss,  mercenaries,  hired  by 

Cromwell,  220 
Swords,  use  of,  by  cavalry, 

Syracusans,  the,  oppressions 
of,  203 

Tactics,  shock  and  fire  com- 
pared, 57;  at  Marston 
Moor,  8$ ;  Scots' ,  at  Pres- 
ton, 119, 120 

Tartar  yoke  in  Russia,  the, 
203 

Taxation,  in  England,  by 
Parliament,  178;  under 
the  Protectorate,  209; 
under  the  Commonwealth, 
209 

Ten  Commandments,  the,  44 

Thirty  Years'  War,  the, 
France's  share  in,  17;  in 
Germany,  25;  its  height  at 
death  of  Gustavus,  38; 
its  influence  on  Cromwell, 
42;  soldiery  in,  62;  Crom- 
well's inclination  to  take 
part  in  it,  113 

Thornhaugh,  Colonel,  Par- 
liamentary leader  of  horse, 
122 

Tilly,  124,  150 

Timoleon,  200 

Tithes,  186 

Tolerance,  in  the  modem 
world,  12;  falseness  of,  in 
seventeenth  century,  18. 
See  also  Catholics,  Crom- 
well, Puritans,  etc. 

Tonnage  and  poundage, 
28;  declaration  against  its 
pay    without    Parliamen- 


tary consent,  30;  declared 
illegal  by  Long  Parliament, 

5? 

Tories,  in  America,  209 

Tower  of  London,  the,  Eliot's 
imprisonment  there,  31; 
Laud's,  50 

Trade,  in  Europe,  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  175, 
176 

Trim  (Ireland),  captured  by 
Parliamentarians,  151 

Tromp,^  the  elder,  in  the 
Spanish  wars,  17,  176 

Tudors,  English  sovereigns, 
unarmed  despots,  10,  11; 
their  relations  with  Eng- 
lish commercial  classes,  10; 
with  middle  class,  10 

Tunis,  Blake  at,  220 

Turenne,  regular  soldiers 
under,  140;  service  of 
British  troops  under,  221 

Turks,  cruelty  of,  210,  220 

Tyranny,  EngHsh  intoler- 
ance of,  11;  Cromwell's 
tyranny  defined,  203  et 
seq.,  208;  Charles  I.'s,  226 

Ulster,  Scotch  Presbyte- 
rians at,  117;  Irish  rising 
there,  141;  cajDtured  by 
Parliamentarians,  145; 
massacres  by  Cromwell- 
ians  there,  146,  151;  under 
the  Protectorate,  216 

Ultramontanes,  the,  143,  144 

Uniforms,  variety  of,  in  Par- 
liamentary army,  61;  ori- 
gin of  present  English,  221 

Union,  War  of  the,  in  the 
United  States,  187;  its 
salutary  effects,  200,  201. 
See  also  American  Civil 
War 

Unitarians,  75 

United  States,  the,  religious 


Index 


257 


tolerance  of,  compared 
with  Cromwell's,  47  ;  polit- 
ical theorists,  108;  Aboli- 
tionists, 185;  Constitution 
of,  190;  government  of, 
191;  practical  good  sense 
of,  211 

Valley  Campaigns,  Stonewall 

Jackson's,  165 
Vane,  Sir  Harry,  179,  181 
Van  Heemskirk,  his  prowess 

against  Spain,  17 
Vaudois,     the,     persecutions 

of,  219,  220 
Venables,   at  San  Domingo, 

221 
Venetian   government,    Pur- 
itans' prisoners  sold  to,  124 
Verdelin,  Regiment  of,  217 
Vemey,  149 

Veto,  the  Protector's,  190 
Victoria,  Queen,  130 
Virginia,  Puritans    prisoners 

there,  124 
Volunteers      (soldiery) ,      in 

American    Civil    War,  62; 

compared    with    regulars, 

63-66;    Ironsides   as,    139; 

rawness  of,  161 

Wales,  Royalist  rising  there 
in  Second  Civil  War,  116; 
Cromwell's  administration 
there,  209 

Wallenstein,  124,  150 

Waller,  Parliamentary  gen- 
eral, at  Copredy  Bridge,  87 

War-ships,  Dutch,  176 

Washington,  compared  with 
Pym  and  Hampden,  5,  35; 
his  superiority  over  Crom- 
well, 51;  his  regular  sol- 
diery, 87;  character  of,  97; 
disinclination  to  dictator- 
ship, 97;  his  lofty  plane, 
99;   his  judicious  govem- 

17 


ment,  106;  his  statesman- 
ship, 182,  184;  his  influ- 
ence on  the  United  States 
Constitution,  190;  his  for- 
bearance, 200 

Waterloo,  Battle  of,  com- 
pared with  Marston  Moor, 
86 

Wayne,  American  Revolu- 
tionary general,  87 

Wellington,  140 

Welsh  War,  116,  117 

Wentworth,  Sir  Thomas,  26; 
character  of,  32.  See  also 
Strafford 

West  Indies,  English  rule  in, 
221 

Westminster,  Long  Parlia- 
ment meets  there,  40; 
Cromwell  installed  there, 
192 

Westminster  Hall,  Crom- 
well's head  exposed  there 
by  Restorationists,  225 

West  Point  advantages  of 
its  training,  64 

Wexford,  Cromwellian  atroc- 
ities there,  150;  Crom- 
well's   storming    of,     152, 

153.  154 
Whigamore     Raid,     the,     in 

Scotland,  125 
Whitehall,  Palace  of,  42,  55; 

Charles  I.  beheaded  there, 

132 
Whitewarts,  the,  at  Marston 

Moor,  85 
William  the  Conqueror,  his 

Lords,  103 
William  III.,  English  King, 

96;  his  ability,  97;  the  real 

successor  of  Cromwell,  226, 

227 
Williams,    original   name   of 

the  Crom wells,  40 
Willoughby,    Lord,      Parlia- 
mentary general,  at  Gains- 


258 


Index 


borough,  78;  Crom  well's 
charges  against,  81 

Wilson,  American  cavalry- 
man, 67 

Winceby,  Battle  of,  79 

Winchester,  occupied  by 
Cromwell,  94 

Winchester,  Marquis  of.  Roy- 
alist leader,  94 

Win  wick  Church,  the  Scotch 
at,  123 

Worcester,  Battle  of,  169, 
171,  174;  anniversary  of, 
223 


"Word  of  the  Lord,  the,"  45, 
46 

Yeomanry,  in   England,   56, 

58 
York,  the  siege  of,  82 ;  fall  of, 

87 
Yorkshire,  neutrality  of,  60; 
its  troops  at  Marston  Moor, 
83  et  seq.;  rising  for  Charles 
I.  there,  117;  troops  in 
Second  Civil  War,  119;  at 
Preston,  122 


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